Chained to Life
by Shadow.X.Spirit
Summary: Sequel to "Chained to the Afterlife". Chasing their friends into Hell, the Hounds must come to truths with themselves and face the facts that saving their friends and escaping at the same time could be an impossible task. Hell is determined to make it so.
1. The Hell Hounds Return Home

Ch 1: The Hell Hounds Return Home

_Endless...Endless...This boundless desert...The wind which carries the screams of the tortured. The water which flows with the hatred and greed of the people. The blood rain which falls with the tears of the trapped. The moons which light the way of the scared, like two children lost in the infinite night sky. Each grain of sand holds the souls of the fallen; encasing the souls of the dead. Lost...Lost...Lost in this desert you shall be...till God himself falls you shall be here...you shall be one of the very grains which your feet shall crush. You shall crush your own dreams. This desert which is deprived of light, only the crimson glow emitted by the Lost Children light your path, however, that glow shall also remind you of the destination which you walk to. The constant glow of the Lost Children shall remind you that you have no destination; that your path is something you shall constantly wander on. Endless...Endless...This boundless desert; more commonly known as Hell._ There was a pause in the speech when a deep and echoing voice laughed. _Welcome home..._

Zoro shot up from the bed, cold sweat streaming down his face. He took deep breaths, trying to calm his twittering heart down. Once he managed that a piercing headache started to storm in his skull. He cringed and fell back onto the bed. Almost pulling his hair out from the pain he rolled onto his side and began grunting, as if it would help. He started taking deep breaths again, this time trying to push away the pain. Once the pain did ease away enough he slowly opened his eyes. It took a minute for his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room but once he did realized that he was in some kind of attic.

He glanced down at his bed which turned out to be more like a dusty mattress with a rag for a sheet. For the first time in his life he actually wished to be on his hammock in the Going Merry; anything seemed better than this. He looked around the room once again, but he didn't dare try and sit up for the second time. There were some boxes stacked in the corner with a few spiders' wed on the ceiling, but other than that it was fairly empty. There was, however, another bed on the other side of the attic. Zoro stared at the rag-like sheet as it rose up and down like waves; obviously the other person was in a deep sleep.

Suddenly the sleeping person moved and Zoro saw that it was really Akio sleeping. Without thinking he lounged towards him. "Ak-" While in mid-air another agonizing headache attacked him and he fell onto the unforgiving, wooden floor. With a loud thump his face smacked the cold ground. He didn't move; he's learned his lesson now. Any sudden movements caused severe headaches. So, Zoro just waited for this one to pass while staying in his sprawled out position. His rag sheet was only covering his feet and that didn't necessarily help with the freezing air. As the idea to slowly reach and pull the rag more onto his body entered his mind he immediately shooed it off. There was nothing and no one that could make him move from his spot.

As this headache's pain died down again he decided to reach out and poke Akio in the back. "Hey...Akio..." He whispered. "Wake up..." Akio moaned and squirmed a little but he stayed asleep. Zoro frowned and started incessantly poking his back. "Akio...wake up..." He said with his face still smushed against the floor. *poke poke* "Akio..." *poke poke* "Don't make me do this all day..." *poke poke* "Aki-" Surprisingly Akio finally turned around to face him.

"What the hell do you want?" He yawned. Just for fun Zoro poked him two more times in his forehead. "Stop it-" He snapped but he was quickly overwhelmed with a fitful cough.

"Are you okay?" Zoro asked curiously, however, his words did not get past the roar of the coughs. Akio sat up and tried clearing his through. Zoro raised an eyebrow. _Why can he move without getting headaches_? He thought enviously. As Akio's coughs continued Zoro lowered his poking hand to the ground so his palm touched the wood. He stared as Akio's chest heaved once he managed to control the coughs.

"Are you okay?" He asked again. Akio looked down at him, slightly creped out.

"What are you doing on the floor?" He asked with a whisper. Zoro could hardly hear him.

"Let's just say I can't move..." Zoro looked away, embarrassed at his silly position. Akio looked around the room just as he had done.

"Do you know where we are?" He asked with a raspy voice. Zoro shook his head.

"What's wrong with your voice?" He asked after him.

"My throat burns every time I talk, but not as much when I whisper." Akio explained.

"I'm getting headaches every time I move; laying here helps the pain ease away." Zoro looked away again. Akio nodded and turned towards the small door in the room. In the silence Zoro fumbled around with the chain on his neck, picking it up and letting it drop. The sound echoed. He sighed and rolled onto his back, later cursing himself for moving as he grasped his head in pain. Akio glanced over his shoulder and watched him helplessly. But then the door opened. The hinges creaked and it kicked up dust as the door swung open. Akio waved the dust away from his face and looked up at the man who walked in, more like limped in. It was an old man with a hunched back and a sour smile.

"Eh-you're up...finally" He said eyeing the two up.

"Who are you?" Akio croaked while holding his throat.

"My name's Gray," He frowned, showing off the spaces within his teeth. Gray seemed to remind Akio of another old man back in Chika named Yu. "You're going to ask what happened, aren't yea?" Gray automatically sat down on one of the boxes in the room. Akio blinked at him and Zoro was able to ignore the pain enough to roll onto his side to get a good look at him. "Well," He began. "I found you two outside my store here and was kind enough to allow you to stay and rest up." He leaned on his knee and growled.

"We're very thankful." Akio whispered. "Do you know what happened to us before that?"

"Before? Well I have no freakn' idea, but I did find you two with wounds. You," He pointed to Akio with a long, bony finger. "You're head was practically cut off, hanging on by a tiny piece of skin." Akio shuttered at the thought, he rubbed his neck thankful it was on now. "And you," He pointed to Zoro who frowned at him. "You had a bullet hole in your head."

"W-Where are we?" Zoro asked, now confused.

"Are you two idiots? You're in Hell...Geez," Gray stood up and motioned towards the small window covered by dusty curtains. "You should rest up now; I'll be down stairs if yea need me." With that he left the room and everything grew quiet again. Zoro crawled over to the small window, trying to keep his head as still as possible. He moved the curtains aside; his shoulders slumping at the sight. They certainly were in Hell. He recognized the desert anywhere, the sky which was always pitched black, the Lost Children's glow-he recognized it all too well. He sighed and turned around, leaning against the wall.

"So, what now?" He asked rubbing his head. Akio was silent. Both were just remembering what happened, why they came here. Gloom hung in the air.

"Everyone..." He said after a while.

"Yup," Zoro stared at the ceiling. "We still have to find everyone." He looked down at Akio and saw his expression. "Do you want to rest first, does your throat hurt?"

"I don't want to go back to sleep." Akio replied without looking at him, the floorboards seemed to be more important. Zoro sighed; to be honest he didn't want to sleep either. Those words he heard, the speech that everyone hears when you enter Hell; the fact that he had to hear it a second time-he didn't want to believe it. He knew that Akio heard that speech as well. Hell, he was just playing a game with them, but he was the only one having fun. Silence entered. In both the silence and the darkness sleep seemed inevitable. Zoro felt his eyes grow heavy. He was in the most uncomfortable position, leaning against the hard wall, but even so sleep took over.

_Having fun?_ A deep voice asked. Zoro opened his eyes. He was somehow in a dark cavern, the roof of the cave was so high up he couldn't even see it and the walls of the cavern were so far apart he could _barely_ see them. _It's good to see you again_. The voice said. Zoro turned to the middle of the cave and saw an enormous, black creature surrounded in a black mist. Because of the mist it was hard to see its body. However, piercing, crimson red eyes could be seen. The eyes stared at him. This creature was so tall that Zoro had to look more than just straight up and the creature's eyes were so huge that they were probably taller than Zoro. Much like the desert of Hell Zoro also recognized this creature all too well.

_Hell..._ He growled. Hell laughed.

_Isn't it nice to be home?_ He asked. _I find it very amusing to hve found you here again...so soon after I granted you freedom._ His eyes didn't blink.

_I don't see how being your Hound is the same as being free._ Zoro argued. Hell laughed again.

_You always amuse me!_ He said happily. _I can't wait till our little game starts. Hold on...It already has._ Hell glared before the black mist filled the entire cavern.

_What the hell do you mean?_ Zoro snapped, trying to see trough the mist.

"Zoro!" He suddenly heard Akio's voice and he felt his body jerk. "Zoro!" He said again, shaking him awake. Zoro's eyes shot open. He stared at Akio.

"Finally you woke up." Akio sighed. "You've been sleeping forever." He straightened himself up. Zoro blinked a few times and rubbed his head.

"Does your head still hurt?" He asked, looking down at him worryingly.

"Just...a little..." He said dazed. "Does...your throat still..."

"No, not at all." Akio smiled, assuring him. Zoro began to pick himself up from the wall but found that his body was extremely sore. Akio noticed his expression. "Ah-I know, it hurts to move. But hey you can't really argue, I mean...we did just_ die_." Zoro reluctantly stood up. "Here," Akio tossed him something which looked like his rag blanket. He lifted the rag into the air and realized that it was a tan-colored cloak. A shitty one, but it would protect them from the desert storms. He watched Akio put it on. Akio noticed his stare and stared back, their gazes locked.

"You saw him too...didn't you?" Zoro said, annoyed that his friend didn't tell him.

"Yes, I did." He sighed. "But I'm not going to let his 'little game' stop me. We still have to find everyone. Who knows how much trouble they got themselves into?" Zoro put his cloak on. It was made of very thick material and it was also rough against his skin. It had a nice hood which fit nicely on his head and the cape part went all the way down to his ankles. He took a few steps around the room and stretched his legs out. The cape fluttered behind him with every move he made. He almost felt like a superhero, of course he would never tell anyone that.

"Hey, um-what about that old man, Gray; is he seriously going to let us stay for free?" Zoro asked shocked.

"Well, about that..." Akio smiled sheepishly while he slowly moved towards the window. Meanwhile they could hear footsteps moving towards the attic.

"Hey, before you guys leave you have to pay me!" Gray hollered. Akio opened the window with trembling hands.

"Come on." He whispered, stepping up onto the sill. Gray's steps got closer. Akio jumped out the window. Zoro was about to follow him when he froze and turned back to the room. He couldn't leave. He looked around franticly. Where were they?

"Open up!" Gray ordered, banging on the door. Akio was smart enough to lock it. Zoro stumbled through the dark attic. Where were his katana? Suddenly he tripped over something. He put his hands on the object and realized that it was his katana.

"Hurry up!" Akio called from outside. Zoro quickly slid the three swords onto his sash and ran for the window. He could hear Gray fumbling with his keys outside the attic. As soon as the correct key opened the door he had already jumped. Outside he practically landed onto of Akio. His cape fluttered even more; now that he was out the two sprinted off into the desert. They could hear Gray's cursing behind them but neither looked over their shoulder at the small shack.

"I-I can't believe we just did that..." Akio said, still nervous.

"You're so badass..." Zoro mumbled.

"S-Shut up!" He stuttered. In the desert the Lost Children casted a crimson glow on everything, tinting it red, but it was better than nothing. Zoro and Akio were at least able to see. They ran up a dune and slid down the other side. Both gasped while scanning the area. All they could see where sand dunes stretching on for miles and miles.

"Just like old times, right?" Akio chuckled. Zoro grunted, somehow he didn't find this funny.

"So," He said ignoring Akio's horrible attempt at humor. "Where do you want to start?" He looked around, seeing nothing but sand.

"I'm guessing you don't sense anyone?" Akio sighed, hoping that he would. He kicked his foot in the sand. "Well...to be honest, I kind of want to eat." Zoro turned to him 'are you serious' is what his face said. Akio grabbed his stomach. "I'm _really_ hungry." He whined. Zoro sighed and slapped his forehead.

"Fine, I guess it can't hurt." He took out one of his katana and lifted the blade up to his palm. Without hesitation he slit his palm and dripped the blood onto the sand. Because of the Lost Children's glow which tinted everything red, the blood was hardly noticeable. But soon, the ground began to shake.


	2. The Hounds Reunite

Ch 2: The Hounds Reunite 

"You guys are pitiful." Rose moaned with her hands on her hips. Her bow and arrows were strapped to her back.

"I hate deserts..." Luffy said tripping on the sand. Sanji pulled his head out of the ground and placed his fallen hat back onto his head. "Thanks..." Luffy mumbled.

"We haven't even walked that far." Percy said, agreeing with Rose. Robin walked up the sand dune with ease. She stood up at the top and looked around. Rose and Percy quickly followed her while everyone else from the crew was having great difficulty.

"I don't see much." Robin commented to Rose.

"I know, but they're out there somewhere." She replied certain.

"Didn't you say that this place was endless?" Usopp said as if there was no hope.

"It is," She agreed. "But we'll be able to find them." Usopp sighed; he didn't see how that was possible. Once everyone finally made it to the top of the dune Nami asked Rose: "Do you some special way to find them?" She was just as skeptical as Usopp.

"If I know them well enough, they should be eating around now."

"What do you mean?" Sanji asked.

"Is there a restaurant down here?" Luffy asked with drool coming out the side of his mouth.

"No, not really, but..." She was about to explain when the ground started shaking.

"D-Don't t-tell me that it-it's He-Hell..." Chopper said, clinging to Sanji's leg in fear. Rose didn't reply.

"Come on." She gracefully slid down the other side of the sand dune and began running in what seemed a random direction. Percy followed her without hesitation as if he was just as used to this place as her.

"This should be fun." Robin grinned, the third to go.

"I have a feeling that it's not Hell, come on Chopper." Sanji said, picking Chopper up into his arms. "Let's go Luffy." He said, Luffy followed, excited. Nami and Chopper looked at each other and moaned. It seemed to them that everyone was forgetting that they were 'normal'.

"Hurry up guys!" Luffy waved with a big smile once he reached the bottom. They moaned again and started down the dune, however, they lacked the gracefulness of the others' slid. They both landed with a face full of sand.

"I hate this place..." Nami growled dusting her clothes off.

"Nami-swan...are you okay?" Sanji helped her up as if she was a fragile bird.

"I'm fine." She snapped, slapping his hand out of the way and storming after the others.

"Ah-Nami-swan's so beautiful when she's angry!" Sanji sang, spinning in circles.

"Want to help me up?" Usopp suggested.

"Do it yourself, long nose." He scowled. Usopp reluctantly picked himself up from the ground and dusted himself off while wearing a frown. He broke into a joke after Sanji.

"Do you know what we're running after?" He asked out of breath once he caught up to Sanji.

"No, but Rose-chan seems to know." He replied. The shaking slowly died down but never went away completely. The small group came to another dune, one much larger than the other; this one was around five stories high.

"What is it, Rose?" Chopper asked once they finally stopped at the base of the dune. Rose replied with a smirk and began to crawl up the dune on all fours. However, another violent jerk from the ground knocked her to the bottom.

"Are you okay?" Percy asked, catching her. She rubbed her head.

"I'm fine." From the other side of the dune everyone heard a loud roar.

"W-What is that?" Usopp asked cowering behind Sanji. They heard the roar again. It echoed in the black sky. "R-Rose?" Usopp demanded to know. Then they heard a familiar voice.

"Zoro, watch out!" Akio called from the other side of the dune.

"Zoro?" Luffy gasped. After that he stormed up the dune. "Zoro!" He called, desperate to hear a response. "Zoro!" When he reached the top of the dune something slammed into it and like an erupting volcano sand shot into the air. Luffy was knocked halfway down the dune, but he was determined to climb back up.

~*0-0*~

The blood soaked into the sand and Zoro and Akio waited for a moment. Then when the ground started shaking both took out their weapons. "Where is it?" Akio asked after nothing happened but shaking. Zoro looked around, trying to find the answer to that question. Then suddenly something burst out of the ground. Sand sprayed into the air like water, temporarily blinding them.

The two heard an echoing roar as a black shadow began to loom over them. Once the sand settled they saw a large, black monster with elongated arms and legs. The monster had no eyes but was still staring right at them. Its skin looked almost inky with small grains of sand sticking to it. The monster roared again.

"Zoro, watch out!" Akio warned. The monster flailed its arms and attempted to punch Zoro with its humongous fist. However, Zoro dodged in time and the monster only succeeded in getting its fist stuck deep into the sand. "Eh—I'm not _this_ hungry…" Akio commented as he backed away.

"Still, it'll be a shame if we let it go to waste." Zoro replied with sigh.

"I guess you're right…" Finally, after several attempts the monster managed to yank its hand out of the sand. This time it turned to Akio.

"Zoro!" Zoro turned around at the sound of his name. He stared at the sand dune which blocked him from seeing whoever it was, but he didn't need to see him; he already knew.

"Luffy?" He mumbled under his breath. Another of the monster's roar brought him back to the fight. It had punched Akio who jumped into the air and landed on its arm. He whipped out his silver gun and began running up the arm as if it was a ramp. Zoro watched from the sidelines with a grin. Akio was normally cumbersome but when he got serious he was impressive—of course, not as impressive as Zoro. He crossed his arms and watched as Akio began to fire bullets at the monster's head.

"Zoro!" Luffy called his name again; it sounded closer now. Zoro looked over his shoulder up at the top of the sand dune. He thought he saw someone standing at the apex of it but when the monster flailed one of its arms it slammed into the dune and the figure disappeared in a cloud of dust. _Can they really just be on the other side?_

"Zoro, are you going to help?" Akio snapped. Zoro faced him again and saw he was desperately trying to hang on like a bull rider. Akio must've not heard Luffy while he was fighting.

"Sure, it I have to." Zoro sighed. He pulled out Wado Ichimonji. Even in the malign glow of the Lost Children the blade still looked like a pure soul; in fact the red glow made it shine white even more.

Akio wrapped his legs around the monster's neck and aimed his gun point-blank at the monster's head. With a playful grin he started to fire. The monster wailed in pain but still didn't die. That's when Zoro sprinted towards it, holding only Wado Ichimonji. He jumped into the air and sliced at the monster's arm. His sword went through as if it was paper. The arm was severed off and it dropped to the arm lifelessly. Instead of blood leaking out, there was a black mist which seeped out of the monster's shoulder.

"This thing won't die!" Zoro exclaimed while landing gracefully.

"You can say that again." Akio replied, exhausted from hanging on all this time. This time Zoro lounged towards the other arm and did the same. More black smoke escaped from its body, but the monster refused to go down. "Tch—this is getting annoying." He growled.

~*0-0*~

"Luffy, are you okay?" Chopper gasped once Luffy rolled back down to the bottom. He stood up and shook the sand out of his hat.

"Yeah…I'm fine." He replied with a serious tone.

"Did you see anything?" Percy asked, curious.

"I was knocked down before I could." His voice was still serious. Rose stared at him for a moment before dashing up the dune.

"Rose-chan, where are you going?" Sanji said with an intake of breath.

"I'm going to see what's going on." She said without bothering to turn around. Luffy ran up after her.

"They're so rash…" Nami moaned. The two quickly came to the top of the dune. Rose immediately took her bow of her back and prepared an arrow.

"What do you see?" Percy called up to them.

"It's a giant mystery monster!" Luffy yelled, waving his hands through the air. "Zoro and Akio are fighting it!" He added. That's when everyone started running up the dune. Chopper was so excited he tripped and fell, however, Sanji run up behind him and scooped him up like a toy, carrying him the way up.

"W-WHAT IS THAT THING?" Usopp gasped once he reached the top.

"I'll explain later." Rose said pulling the string on her bow back. She closed one eye for accuracy. The monster below was flailing around obviously in pain. Akio was riding its back, hanging on for dear life, meanwhile Zoro continued to slice the monster up into pieces but it never seemed to die.

Akio gazed up at the top of the dune, wondering where the voices were coming from, but when his gaze fell onto Rose his heart skipped a beat. Akio's eyes widened and a lump in his throat formed. His eyes wouldn't leave Rose. He mumbled, "Y-you're alright…Z-Zoro, look!" Zoro followed his gaze to the sand dune and he froze. He then sighed with relief, a small smile grew.

Without warning Rose fired her arrow; the point pierced the monster right between its eyes—or where its eyes should've been. Finally, the monster stumbled around on its cumbersome feet before falling on its face. The impact shook the ground and kicked up sand, but after that everything grew quiet.

Akio crawled off its back, panting. He slid his gun back into his cloak. He glanced over at Zoro and then back at the monster. It took a moment but soon the monster slowly began to disperse into the black smoke. The smoke then split into three different trails, one went to Akio, Zoro, or Rose. The smoke entered their body and they acted as if it was normal.

After a moment of silence passed Usopp and Nami said in unison: "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?"

"Satisfied now?" Zoro asked Akio who nodded contently. A strong gust of wind suddenly blew by. There seemed to be voices traveling along with the wind—screams. Then that gust of wind knocked Luffy's hat right off his hand and sent it down the dune. Zoro reached out and casually caught it. His and Luffy's gaze locked. Then Luffy broke out into a smile. He slid down the dune towards Zoro.

"Yo," Zoro said impassively. Luffy grinned and said: "I think you have my hat." Zoro slapped the straw hat onto his head and pushed the rim down in front of his face. There was a serene silence between the two until Akio started yelling in the back ground.

"Rose, I was so worried about you!" He skipped towards her; by now everyone was already down from the dune. Akio embraced her in a bone-crushing hug. She simply patted his head while wearing an awkward smile.

"I was worried about you too…" She mumbled half-heartedly.

"So, how do you guys like Hell so far?" Zoro asked sarcastically.

"I sucks…" Luffy pouted. Everyone quieted down and turned towards him. Zoro looked at him confused; he wasn't expecting an honest answer. Suddenly Akio broke out in laughter and everyone couldn't help but smile.


	3. The Hounds and the Pack Journey through

Ch 3: The Hounds and the Pack Journey through Hell

Chopper couldn't hold his emotions in any longer. He leapt off of Sanji's shoulder and wrapped his arms around Zoro's neck and began crying. "Chopper…" Zoro said surprised by the sudden affection. Chopper continued to cry.

"I was so worried…" He said between wails.

"…Thanks…" He said, embarrassed. He started to pry him off but he'd have more luck getting his own collar off than this reindeer. Usopp began to sniffle and soon he too embraced Zoro in a hug.

"Not you too…" Zoro mumbled annoyed. No with two wailing cry babies on him he was overwhelmed.

"Aw—such a cute scene." Sanji teased.

"Shut up you stupid Love Cook!" Zoro snapped, trying to keep his balance. Luffy grinned and started to play along.

"Zoro," He wailed obviously acting. As soon as Luffy hopped on too he fell to the ground.

"Get off of me!" Zoro snapped, struggling to breath. Akio started laughing at Zoro's pain. "Akio?" Zoro gasped. He didn't think that even _he_ would enjoy his torture.

"S-Sorry," Akio whipped a tear while trying to control his laughter. "It's just…" He broke out in laughter again. Sanji watched with upmost joy. He would never forget this moment; the swordsman's torture entertained him to no end. Rose of course loved it that was no surprise. Even Nami and Robin were giggling.

"That's enough." Percy said with a smile. He walked over and picked the three up off of him with on hand; they were dangling in the air until he set them down. Zoro sat up cross-legged and brushed his clothes off.

"Thanks…" He muttered.

"So, where to next Swordsman-san." Zoro glanced over at Robin for that was her usual nickname for him, but it turned out she didn't utter a word. It was Percy who spoke instead. Zoro stared at him, but couldn't help picture Robin's face on his body, the very combination made him shiver. "Swordsman-san?" Percy asked after no answer.

"J-Just call me Zoro." Zoro said, staring at his feet.

"It's not very smart to follow his directions; he gets lost following a straight line." Nami warned with an obnoxious voice. Zoro glared at her.

"It's not like there's anywhere to go here." Usopp said shrugging.

"But you guys must've come up with a plan on how to get out, right?" Rose asked, wrapping her arm around Akio's neck. She smiled and batted her eyes. Akio blushed and fumbled with his fingers.

"Uh—" He couldn't look her in the eye. "Well, to be frank," A drop of sweat ran down the side of his face. "We don't." She frowned at him. _You have got to be joking…_ Akio read her expression. "No, we really have no idea." He said cautiously. She abruptly shoved him to the ground and crossed her arms like a child.

"This is just great…" She mumbled. Silence settled while everyone awkwardly glanced around, suddenly Luffy's stomach growled.

"Shhh…" Chopper told it. Luffy then collapsed to the ground.

"I'm…hungry…" He moaned; his voice was muffled because his face was embedded in the sand.

"It was just a matter of time…" Sanji sighed.

"Luffy, I doubt there's food here." Usopp said pessimistically.

"Actually," Rose began. "There _are_ some places here with food."

"Those places are impossible to find." Akio argued, picking himself up from the ground.

"Really?" Luffy exclaimed; suddenly full of energy.

"You guys aren't too tired are you?" Rose asked the crew. They all said no. "Okay then, on we go!" She pointed her finger up to the black sky and started marching off. Zoro growled; the last thing he wanted to do right now was walk. Percy reached down and picked him up by the shirt.

"Come on." He said, pulling him to his feet.

~*0-0*~

Their little group walked along the tops of the dunes, the small few feet wide trail that traced the apex. They had to walk in single-file or risk rolling down the edge. The line went: Zoro, Luffy, Robin, Sanji, Percy, Chopper, Rose, Usopp, Nami, and Akio being last. They couldn't tell if it was night or day; not that it matter in Hell. But everyone was tired from walking for such a long time and seeing nothing but desert which consisted of nothing but sand dunes.

"Are you sure it's okay that Zoro's leading us?" Nami whispered to Akio over her shoulder. Akio smiled.

"Surprisingly he's the best with directions here." Nami looked at him shocked. "It's true." He assured. "I think it's because this place is so impossible to navigate in he's good at it—one of those freak of nature things I guess."

"I heard that!" Zoro snapped from the front of the line. Akio chuckled. Everything grew silent again as they continued to walk through Hell. Luffy by now was being dragged by Zoro through the sand, complaining how he was going to die from hunger.

"Zoro…" He moaned. "I'm hungry…"

"I heard you the first time." Zoro growled, trying not to lose his temper.

"Huh?" Nami suddenly stopped causing Akio to bump into her.

"S-Sorry," He rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed.

"I thought I saw something…" She stared at the sky. "T-There it is again!" She exclaimed. A small drop fell in front of her face.

"Is it rain?" Robin wondered. Luffy shot up from the ground and opened his mouth as it would stretch. Out of nowhere Zoro shoved Luffy's face to the ground.

"Everyone, get close together!" He ordered. Confused everyone did as he told them and got into two small groups. Both Zoro and Akio ripped off their cloaks and quickly draped it over everyone who was crouching on the ground. They waited under the shadows of the cloaks for something to happen, and then the small pattering of rain was heard. They could feel the cloak slowly becoming damp.

"It's rain!" Chopper said happily.

"Don't come out from under there." Zoro said coldly. Chopper backed away from him, back under the shelter of the cloak. Nami looked down at the sand and froze.

"T-That's not rain…" She said, her voice quavered. Everyone followed her gaze to the ground just outside of the cloak and saw it was stained red, an even darker red than the glow of the Lost Children.

"It smells like blood." Chopper said, _his_ blood running cold.

"Why the hell is it raining blood?" Percy gasped.

"This is the blood of everyone who's dying in our world." Zoro explained. He held up his hand so the drops formed a puddle in his palm. Then he allowed the puddle to run down it already stained arms. It looked as if he just came out of war; the blood raining down from the sky practically covered his entire body.

"Other than the fact that it's disgusting, why can't we touch it?" Sanji asked hastily.

"It's said that it this blood-rain touches you it taints your soul." Akio said inanimately.

"But, you two—" Robin said worryingly. Akio kneeled down so he could see everyone and he smiled.

"Our souls are already tainted beyond repair." The statement made everyone's skin crawl and left a guilty feeling in the air. Akio stood back up.

"I don't get why you forced me under here; I've been in the blood-rain before." Rose said angrily.

"You shouldn't have to be in it." Akio said quietly. No one spoke any more, only the sound of the blood falling onto the cloaks could be heard. Zoro rubbed his head and looked at his hand, his whole palm was bloody. He sighed, he'd have to wash his hair or be a red-head for a while.

"What are we—"

"We're going to wait till it stops." Zoro said, answering Luffy's question. Quiet again.

"It looks like it's stopping." Akio stated after a few minutes.

"Yeah." Zoro agreed. Once they made sure that no more blood-rain was falling they picked their cloaks off everyone's heads. Zoro was about to clean his face when he realized that his cloak was also drenched in the blood. He frowned and tied the cloak back on.

"Here," Sanji handed him a handkerchief. Zoro stared at it, hesitant at first. "Well, are you going to take it, Marimo?" Zoro immediately snatched it out of his hand with a grunt and cleaned his face off.

"Stupid Love Cook." He grumbled, walking away.

"That's gratitude for yea." Sanji sighed and he took out a cigarette.

"Are you an idiot?" Zoro gasped turning around before he could even lit it.

"What?" Sanji asked innocently. "I can't smoke here?"

"Not unless you want your body to burst into flames." Zoro said coldly. Sanji actually thought about it, he really needed a smoke, but instead he shoved the cigarette and lighter back into his pocket. _Hell really does suck…_ He thought.

"We should continue." Zoro said after a minute. He stared into the direction they were first heading towards.

"Do you sense something?" Akio asked, putting his cloak back on as well.

"Yeah." Zoro started walking again and so did everyone else, whether they wanted to or not.

"Do you have some sort of ability, Swordsman-san?" Robin asked with a smirk. Zoro glanced over his shoulder to make sure that it was Robin and not Percy again.

"Yeah." He replied once making sure. "But, simply sensing things here is common." He added.

"Still, it's interesting." She paused, thinking of another conversation, while doing so she moved up in front of Luffy so she was now directly behind him. "What's your plan to get us out of here?" She was whispering.

"We don't have one yet." He replied tersely.

"Sure you do." She said certain. He glanced over his shoulder again, why was she acting so weird? "I'm curious, what's Hell like?" She gently rubbed her hand over his collar.

"Shut up!" He spun around and slapped her hand away. Everyone stopped and stared. Sanji was about to speak up and yell at him for talking to Robin-chan that way when Robin cut him off.

"I just realized…your eyes are red and your teeth—are you _that _mad at me?" She asked calmly. Zoro grunted and turned away. He started walking again and so did everyone else.

"They're always like this when we're here." He said quietly. Robin grinned, she always found out what she wanted to know.

"Zoro, how much longer?" Sanji asked once he thought it was safe to speak again. "I don't know how much longer Luffy can make it." He said while carrying Luffy on his back. Luffy was almost unconscious but let out the occasional groan.

"Don't worry," Zoro stopped and looked down the dune to his right. "We're here." Everyone followed his gaze and stared at a small shack in a valley of dunes. Luffy sprang back to life and ran down the dune. Chopper and Usopp ran after him.

"Luffy, don't eat everything." They called.

"We should hurry up before there's no food left." Sanji said to Robin and Nami, they both nodded and he escorted them down the dune.

"Are you coming, Akio?" Percy asked before going.

"I'll be down in a minute." He replied with a smile.

"Okay," Percy nodded and him Rose went to go join everyone. Now that they were gone everything was quiet. Just Zoro and Akio were left on the dune.

"What's wrong?" Akio asked after reading Zoro's worried expression. Zoro stared at the sand in front of him.

"Someone's watching us." He whispered.

"Huh?"

"He's behind us now." Akio looked behind them and saw in the distance a figure but he couldn't make out what it was.

"It could just be another soul." Akio said trying to assure Zoro that it was nothing to be worried about.

"He's been following us this whole time!" Zoro growled, his eyes flashed with anger. Akio was used to it so he didn't even flinch.

"Do you think it's him?" Akio sighed.

"It's definitely Me."

"Who knew that Hell was so interested in them?"

"I won't let him have them." Zoro clenched his fists. "He'll have to make me vanish from existence before I let him have my nakama." Akio chuckled and patted him on the back.

"Come on, let's go join everyone." Akio started sliding down the dune towards the small shack. Zoro glanced over his shoulder one more time but the figure was gone.

I hope you're enjoying the story so far and please review, I'd like to know what you think and if there's anything I could do to improve it. More detail or more explaining, whatever can make it better! Anyway, I just wanted to say that **Me **means **eyes** in Japanese. You'll understand later if not already


	4. Hell Watches the Hounds

**Hello everyone, I'm sorry it took me so long to update this. And also, I'm sorry if it's a little boring…I'm trying to build this one up a little more than the first one; you know, a few more side-adventures…BUT DON'T WORRY**** IT'S SLOWLY ALL BUILDING! SERCRETS WILL SOON BE REVEILED! (What's up with Percy's past, how did Hell find out about the crew in the first place, can the crew **_**trust ANYONE**_**?) Anyway, I hope you're enjoying it so far and that you continue reading. And please…PLEASE REVIEW! **

Ch 4: Hell Watches the Hounds

Luffy barged into the small shack, almost breaking the door at the same time. "Hey, is anyone here?" He called out. He was in a small room, but it did have a small bar counter though all of the tables laid out were empty. "Hey, we need some food!" Everyone soon appeared behind him.

"Did you find any food?" Usopp asked peaking over Luffy's shoulder.

"Who the hell is it?" A cranky voice suddenly replied from somewhere else in the shack. Everyone waited anxiously for him to show himself. A small, worn out old man came limping into the room from some back room. His skin looked like old leather and his clothes were ripped and tattered. "What do you want?" He snapped, showing off the spaces within his teeth.

"Please excuse our rude entrance but would you mind letting us stay a while." Nami unbuttoned her shirt and tried wooing the old man. She waved her hand in the air to cool herself off. "It's just so hot in here." Meanwhile Sanji was staring at her with hearts in his eyes screaming 'Mellorine. Mellorine. Mellorine.' Usopp had to hold him back.

"Easy tiger…" He mumbled under the strain. The old man stared at her, obviously not being wooed.

"Eh—fine…" He grumbled, limping over behind the counter. Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper ran over to the counter and gladly sat down on the stools.

"Is there anything we could do to help; we're chefs." Sanji said motioning to himself and Percy.

"I wouldn't want your dirty hands touching the food." The old man snapped. Sanji took a deep breath and contained his anger, and then he glanced down at the old man's bony fingers and saw them cover with filth. This made him even angrier. Percy grabbed his shoulder. 'It's not worth it,' is what his face said. Sanji sighed and reluctantly took a seat next to Robin and Nami. Percy and Rose sat at their own table.

"Do you have a name?" Robin asked while leaning on her elbow. The old man grumbled but replied: "Gray." As soon as he said this Akio and Zoro entered the shack and they both froze. Gray stared at them with his black beady eyes. He rubbed them just to make sure.

"Back away slowly…" Zoro whispered to Akio and the two of them slowly backed away towards the door.

"IT'S YOU TWO!" Gray screamed, quickly wobbling over to them. His speed surprised everyone.

"We're screwed…" Akio whispered nervously. Zoro could feel him shaking and sighed, he could be such a baby sometimes. Gray glared at them, but he had to look straight up at them. He barely made it up to their waist.

"You guys know each other?" Luffy asked curiously.

"These two left without repaying their dept!" He jabbed a finger at them. Nami looked at him with pity.

"Zoro, you do make depts. where ever you go?" She sighed.

"Shut up women." He snapped under his breath.

"Listen," Gray smirked as an idea popped into his head. "I'll gladly feed your friends here, if you do something for me."

"Hell no! We'll—" Zoro said immediately. Akio punched him in the side.

"We'll be happy to help." He smiled.

"What are you doing?" Zoro whispered.

"Shhh…We don't even know what it s he wants." Akio replied. He turned towards Gray and asked: "Just what is it you want us to do?"

"Oh, I'll let you know later." Gray laughed to himself and started limping back to the counter where the three idiots were waiting for food.

"God damn him." Zoro grumbled sitting down with Sanji and the girls.

"He already has." Akio smiled before going to sit down with Rose and Percy. As Gray disappeared into a back room Sanji started tapping his fingers on the table incessantly. At first Zoro just shrugged it off and went back to being angry at the old geezer but soon the sound grew irritating to the point where he flinched at every tap. Sanji, however, seemed almost unaware he was doing this as he stared off into the distance with a frown.

"Do you mind?" Zoro asked glaring.

"_What_, Marimo?" He spat. Zoro glanced down at his tapping fingers. _Is he an idiot?_ He thought, raising an eyebrow. Robin then leaned in and tapped Zoro on the shoulder.

"He's probably in withdrawn because he can't smoke." She reminded with a hush voice. Zoro remember that anyone who smokes here will burst into flames, just another one of Hell's jokes for those addicted to nicotine. With a deep sigh he felt pity for the young chef but once the tapping came irritating once again all pity was lost. Zoro started rubbing his temples; he had too much to worry about now.

Meanwhile, Rose had taken her arrows off her back and was in the middle of cleaning the tips off of any lingering blood. Percy watched her seeing how there was nothing else to do. Akio had also taken his gun out and began polishing that as well, not that it could be polished any more than it already was.

"I didn't know you knew archery." Percy said, breaking the small silence at their table. "You too," He turned towards Akio. "Who knew you were such a good marksman."

"Eh—I guess I never brought it up." Akio said sheepishly. Rose held the arrow up and squinted her eyes.

"Geez, these things never get clean." She sighed, putting it back down and cleaning it some more.

"Maybe if you didn't attack your enemies with such force there wouldn't be as much blood on them." Akio suggested politely. Rose glared at him thinking it was an insult.

"What and let you handle all of the work?" She growled. Akio sighed. _What happened to that nice moment we had back in our world. I thought we would actually start going out or something after that…_ He thought depressed. Suddenly Gray came out of the back room, his hands full of plates of food.

"Do you need any help?" Percy asked, getting up from his seat.

"No, no I don't need _any_ help." Gray scowled. Percy sat back down._ He really reminds me of Yu…. _He thought, staring at Gray as he placed the food in front of everyone.

"I already ate; thank you though." Akio said when Gray came to their table.

"All of us Hounds ate already." Rose added.

"Eh—so you _are_ Hounds." He said after placing the final plate in front of Sanji.

"What do you mean?" Robin asked.

"Hounds get special treatment here—people are always impersonating them to get that treatment." Gray explained.

"Who would want to be a Hound?" Zoro mumbled; he started scratching the table with his fingernail. Gray stared at him before limping away. Luffy just finished up licking the rest of the food on the plate when he sighed deeply.

"Aw, thanks old man; that was really good." He said patting his bulging stomach. It was some kind of meat covered in some sauce. Sanji tried a bite and was stunned. It really was good. However, the flavor was a mystery to him. It didn't taste like any kind of ingredients he knew of.

"I was meaning to ask this earlier, but what was that monster before?" Usopp asked after handing his spotless plate to Gray who already started to collect them.

"It was a demon." Rose said while finishing off with her arrows. She slid them back onto her back with the bow. "Here that's what we Hounds eat: demons."

"T-There are demons here too?" Chopper gasped. His blood ran cold.

"It's Hell…what'd you expect?" Nami replied coldly. Zoro looked up from a spot on the ground to see Luffy stared out the windows with his head tilted in curiosity.

"What's wrong, Luffy?" He asked, wondering what was bothering him.

"Is it me or did it get darker out?" Luffy questioned while scratching the back of his head. Everyone turned to look out the windows.

"Of course it got darker," Gray snapped as if it was obvious. "It's night time." He went back into the back room.

"I didn't think there was a day and night in Hell?" Percy said what everyone was thinking.

"It's dangerous to travel at night." Zoro added. "Because there's no glow from the Lost Children you can't see anything."

"Just what are the Lost Children?" Robin asked curiously.

"There's an old story that the first two souls to enter Hell turned into the two moons in the sky. Because they're forced the wander the sky endlessly they're called them the Lost Children." Akio explained as if he was reading it from a book. Robin smiled. Everything was very interesting here.

"I have rooms upstairs if you want to rest." Gray said, suddenly coming out of the room. "Come on," He started leading everyone up the old, moldy stairs. "But you two," He pointed to Zoro and Akio who froze. "We'll discuss our dept while your friends sleep." He growled, disappearing up the stairs behind everyone else.

Zoro moaned and dropped back down onto the chair. "God I hate that old man…" He sighed rubbing his hand through his hair. His attitude towards everything never seems to change and this made Akio smile.

"Still, you have to be thankful that he's taking everyone in." He said sitting down in front of everyone. Zoro stuck out his lower lip. He knew what Akio was saying was right, but he didn't want to admit it. Akio laughed.

It took a few minutes but soon Gray came back down the stairs. "Your friends must've been tired; they fell asleep right away." He said. "Now," Taking a seat on one of the stools he began to explain. "Your dept…" They shivered; what could this evil old man have in store for them?

~*0-0*~

Silence coated the desert in a thin blanket. The Lost Children were no longer seeable in the night. Instead of everything being tinted red there was a trace of blue on everything. The shack was quiet with only the soft sound of people in a deep sleep. "I can't believe that the old man wants us to deliver something for him." Zoro grumbled.

"It's not that bad of a deal." Akio disagreed. The two were sitting outside of the shack by the door, one on each side. Zoro wrapped his arms around his knees; his head bobbed his exhaustion.

"Don't fall asleep now, if you do then there's no point in us being out here." Akio said with a gently tone. Zoro groaned and used all of his energy to pull his head up. After staring at him for a minute Akio added: "You can go in and sleep if you want; I'll stay out here."

"No," Zoro said stubbornly. "It's fine." Akio sighed and leaned against the shack even more.

"Do you think anything's even out there?" He asked, staring out at the desert, but as soon as he said this a distant figure came into view. As the air grew tense he knew that Zoro saw it too. "Me?" He asked.

"Probably…" Zoro replied in a hushed tone. The figure was still for a few minutes and neither of them talked—it was a deadlock between the three. Suddenly and without warning the figure vanished and appeared in front of them a few feet away revealing its identity to in fact be Me.

Me was a tall, white deer with black zebra stripes. He had impressive antlers that stretched high into the air; each point sharpened to a tip. His eyes were black and alien-like, showing no emotion while they stared at the two hounds that held their breath in his presence.

"What are you doing here, Me?" Zoro asked, breaking the silence. It shattered like glass and a conversation emerged from the broken remains.

"I'm just here to observe—like always." He answered calmly, however, his mouth didn't move when he talked. His blank eyes almost pierced through the two with the simplest of gazes.

"No, why are you watching _us_?" Zoro rephrased his question and asked it with attitude. Me was silent for a moment.

"I'm just watching; doesn't my name suggest only that?" He asked, pointing out the fact that his name: Me, meant eyes. "I can do no harm." And he meant this literally, Me could not harm anyone, even if he wanted to. Zoro glared at him.

"Go watch someone else." He growled.

"I can't; I have orders…please pay me no attention."

"Cut the crap! We knew that Hell sees everything through your eyes; why else would they be so lifeless if they were nothing but simple windows!" Zoro sudden outburst made Akio flinch but Me still wouldn't show emotion. Me then turned to walk away, but he looked back over his shoulder to say one more thing.

"I truly hope you have a safe trip on your little delivery…and don't worry, I'll watch over your friends for you." After this he vanished again. The broken glass reformed and created silence once more.


	5. The Hounds Journey to Senshokukin

Ch 5: The Hounds Journey to Senshoku-kin 

"Sanji…" Sanji woke up to a soft voice nudging him.

"Aw…Nami-swan," He said still half-asleep. "You're so beautiful in the morning light…"

"Wake up already, you stupid Love Cook." A different voice said, irritated.

"Marimo…" Sanji shot up from his bed, growling.

"It's me you idiot." Usopp sighed. Sanji stared at him confused. Chopper was here too. "Zoro and Akio already left." Usopp added. "But seriously I didn't know you slept in this much." He moaned, still annoyed.

"S-Sorry," Sanji rubbed his head. "I must've been tired." He looked around for a moment, no one else was in the room except for the three of them; even then he felt crowded. They were lucky that Gray gave them actual beds to sleep in, though they were quite repulsive. "Where is everyone else?" Sanji asked getting up out of bed and fixing his hair.

"They're down stairs all ready to go." Chopper said looking up at him.

"Go where?"

"Just hurry up." Usopp said leaving the room with Chopper trailing behind. As Sanji finished getting ready he felt anxious for some reason. He had to keep tapping his hand against his leg to keep him from freaking out. As the reason to this weird behavior was still a mystery to him he tried to surpass it because he didn't want to make everyone worry.

Once he was done he hurried down stairs he saw everyone standing in an odd circle with some bags on their back. But when he reached the floor a familiar scent wafted over to his nose. He straightened up and looked around jittery; his fingers still fidgeting against his leg. Then he spotted old man Gray sitting on a stool with a cigar in his hand, the familiar scent was the smell of nicotine. He shot over to the old man almost knocking him over.

"W-Where did you get that?" He asked nervously. Gray glared at him, hesitant about telling but eventually he gave into Sanji's pleads.

"From the city of Senshoku-kin." He said gruffly.

"Why Cook-san, going through some withdraw?" Robin asked with a giggle. Sanji jumped at the question and fixed his tie, uneasy.

"O-Of course not…" He didn't want everyone to think that he was so weak where he was bound by a small drug.

"OK," Nami said getting back to the main topic.

"Gray-san was about to tell us where Zoro and Akio went." Chopper said filling Sanji in. He nodded and focused on what they were saying, but the fact that Gray could smoke without bursting into flames was still lingering. _Maybe Marimo just tricked me…Yea, probably…that bastard…_ He thought angrily.

"Your friends already left this morning off to Senshoku-kin, the city that I asked them to deliver my possession." Gray said puffing smoke into the air. He seemed to purposely blow it over to Sanji who started shaking, this man was so torturous.

"Just what is your possession?" Robin asked crossing her arms.

"That's none of our business." Gray snapped defensively. She smiled, admiring his stubbornness.

"Anyway," Gray continued. "They left a message for you…they said that they'll try to be as quick as they could but they want you to start towards the city on your own."

"B-By ourselves?" Usopp gasped. "How can we?"

"They said Rose has made the trip before." He said pointing the tip of his cigar at her. She didn't say whether that was true or not.

"Um, the name of this place 'Senshoku-kin' it means 'Stained Gold', doesn't it?" Robin said wanting to make sure.

"Yup…" Gray nodded. "That place if built out of solid gold." Suddenly Nami's eyes turned to belis. She felt as if she would faint.

"S-Solid G-G-Gold?" She stuttered, the very thought make her dizzy.

"That's what I said, what do you have sand in your ears?" Gray tapped some of his cigar ashes onto the floor. "However, if you take any of that gold you'll become curse." He added.

"Aw—keep your superstitions to yourself." Nami waved him away, thinking about nothing but the gold.

"This isn't really important, but where were Zoro and Akio last night; I don't remember them coming up to sleep?" Chopper asked sheepishly.

"They were out guarding the place." Rose said inanimately.

"From what?" Percy who was standing right next to her asked.

"They wouldn't say…" She seemed angry that they left her out of the secret.

"S-Something's coming after us?" Usopp gasped. "WE'RE GOING TO DIE!" He flailed his arms and then grabbed onto Luffy who was staying surprisingly quiet the whole time.

"Save me…" He mumbled.

"Don't worry," Luffy assured. "If it was something dangerous I'm sure Zoro would've told us." He said this with upmost trust in him.

"We should get going." Rose said coldly. "The quicker we meet back up with those two the better." She added while moving towards the door.

"Sure," Nami and everyone else followed her.

"Hey, old man, thanks again." Luffy said with a smile.

"Eh—" He grunted and shooed them off. Luffy laughed. "Wait, you black haired girl." Gray called to her. Robin turned around curious. "Here," He tossed her a dusty old book. "You seem smart; learn a little about this place. I already read it so I won't need it back; think of it as a souvenir." He grinned. "And you, black man," Percy turned towards him, trying to ignore the rudeness of his 'nick-name'. "Say 'hi' to my son when you get back home."

"Who's your—"

"Yu," Gray smiled again. "He talked about you before I died…" Percy grinned, remembering the tiny little shopkeeper back at Chika; the apple _really_ didn't fall far from the tree.

"Do you really think we'll be getting back home?" Nami asked, hopefully.

"You seem like nice people; Hell can't keep anyone who doesn't belong…of course he can try." Gray cackled. Everyone waved goodbye and walked out the door. Rose looked around for a minute before sighing. "It's this way." She started walking off somewhere to their right. Everyone followed her but they were curious about the attitude. Robin immediately opened the book Gray gave her and started reading from page one. Each page felt like sand paper and the corners were crumbling. _I've never seen a book this old before…_ She thought in awe. It was impressive that she could read and walk at the same time without falling off of the dunes. However, Sanji was ready to leap to her rescue whenever she may need it.

Inside of the book there were fascinating pictures of mythical beings and creatures. More interested her than others but overall everything was fairly new to her. She turned the page and the next headline caught her attention: "Hell and the Hounds". There were a few paragraphs underneath this headline. The archaeologist became drown in the words.

'Hell created Hounds to do his bidding in the real world…they are forever bound to him…Hell would often turn souls into Hounds to keep them from leaving…as a gift to his best Hounds he signed his own name on their collar which can grant them incredible power; he also gave them his eyes…' Some of the things that this page said made no sense to her but she continued reading.

"Robin…Robin…" Luffy said repeating. "Robin…" He moaned. She still didn't answer. He stretched his hand forward and poked her; she immediately looked up from the book. "Robin…"

"Uh—yes, Captain-san?" She asked slightly dazed.

"Is that book good?" He was grinning widely. Robin smiled.

"Yes, it is very interesting; I believe I will learn a lot from it." She said happily.

"That's my Robin-chan!" Sanji sang with heart shaped eyes.

"Put a sock in it!" Usopp snapped, pushing him.

"What do you want…Long nose?" Sanji turned around and growled. Rose's fingers twitched and a vein popped onto her forehead. As the bickering between the two grew louder and other irritating noise from the rest of them continued she stopped and spun around on her heels.

"Would all of you shut up!" Her sudden outrage silenced everyone. "It's bad enough that we're stuck here without Akio or Zoro _and_ they think that something's following us. If you guys could just quietly walk in a line the quicker we meet back up with them the better."

"What's so important about that Marimo?" Sanji sneered with his arms crossed.

"They're Hounds." Rose said as if she repeated it a thousand times. "People here know better than to mess with them." She motioned into the desert as if they were nearby.

"But…Rose-san, aren't you a Hound too?" Chopper asked politely. She ran her hand over his collar and chain without thinking about it.

"Apparently I'm not good enough." She mumbled before turning around and starting again. No one heard her except for Chopper who had his animal hearing. He looked at her somberly and ran up next to her. She glanced down at him and he smiled back up at her.

"You shouldn't put yourself down like that." He said encouragingly.

"They didn't even trust me to tell me that they were leaving or what they saw…" She looked off into the distance. Chopper bit his lower lip and he waited a moment before talking again.

"Zoro, he…he's our nakama but he didn't tell us either; we know how you feel." He said finally. Rose looked down at him surprised. "I'm sure we were all a little upset that he just left; Luffy the most." Chopper and Rose looked over their shoulder at Luffy who was pestering Robin, pointing to all of the cool pictures in the book but he didn't bother to even acknowledge that the words were there.

"I think the reason he's so interested in that book is because he cares. Normally Luffy doesn't even know what a book is but…he feels really bad that he doesn't know anything about being a Hound, or what Zoro's going through. Back in the real world I remember he was beating himself up because he couldn't help Zoro." Chopper giggled to himself. "He was jealous of Akio you know."

"Akio? Why would anyone be jealous of _him_?"

"I'm not too sure but maybe it's because Akio's there for Zoro and Luffy's not; he got over it a little but he's still not too humane towards Akio." Chopper grinned causing Rose to smile. "You're not alone, Rose, we all feel the same way." He added.

"I guess so…" She sighed; it felt as if a heavyweight has just been lifted off her shoulders. "Thanks, Chopper."

"It doesn't matter how much you complement me; it doesn't make me the slightest bit happy you asshole." He blushed and danced a little in the sand. Rose laughed but once her gaze fell upon a figure in the distance she shiver and her skin crawled. _M-Me?_ She thought hoping she was seeing wrong and that no one else saw him, the last thing she need now was Luffy to go run off and chase him screaming 'AMAZING! HE'S SO COOL!'

Me's cold, lifeless eyes stared unblinking at the small group as they traveled across the dunes. His body wouldn't move even against the strongest of winds that blew by, he was a wall. He didn't understand what Hell saw in these idiots but he was given orders. Observe. So that's what he must do, even if every fiber of his being revolts—though does he have much of a choice? Since Hell blacked out his world he became nothing but a lifeless puppet.

~*0-0*~

Zoro and Akio stepped out of the story, the door bell ringing when the door closed behind them. It was getting dark out and the moons were slowly fading away. "It's not good if they're stuck in the desert at night." Akio said looking up at the sky. Zoro sighed.

"We better hurry then…" He started walking down the sidewalk. Akio quickly followed him. In the golden city of Senshoku-kin many souls were wandering the streets, even at this hour. Screams were heard in the allies but no one bother to go and investigate.

Zoro hated it here. The smell of the gold made him want to throw up and everyone who lived here were jerks. Speaking of which, all of the people that were currently in the streets were looking at Zoro and Akio with fear in their eyes, slowly backing away.

"I guess they don't see Hounds very often…" Akio said looking around calmly. Zoro sighed; he didn't feel like dealing with this right now. "Wait, Zoro," Akio said hastily. "They're not looking at us." Slowly the two Hounds turned around to see what was behind them that were so frightening. At first they didn't see anything, only the creeping darkness which was slowly swallowing the city. It seemed as if the shadows were all crawling out of the allies and the dark corners. But a sudden squawk from a raven caused the two to look up at a streetlamp.

"Koe…" Zoro growled while clenching his fists. The raven squawked again and then stared down at the two wearing a sly smile. It stretched its wings out and then made itself comfy on the streetlamp.

"What are you doing here?" Akio demanded to know.

"I have a message." Koe said. He then opened his mouth and a voice was suddenly heard. By now everyone on the streets had fled to safety from the ominous, black raven.

"I am so glad that you've decided to join me in my games. I mean, what's a game when you have no one to play against." The voice was dark and malign. _Hell… _Zoro thought.

"What do you want, Hell?" Akio asked raising his voice. Hell laughed. Koe kept his mouth open like a statue.

"I just wanted to tell you that it your turn. I must say that when you get distracted you lose track of when it's your turn." His voice suddenly turned serious. "I advise you to not lose track of that again, or you may not enjoy the consequences." Hell's voice grew slightly playful again. "Now, you know how much I believe in sportsmanship; I just wanted to wish you luck."

"Luck for what!" Zoro snapped.

"Well," He said as if it was obvious. "In getting back to your friends in time, of course." Anger suddenly swelled in Zoro and he growled. "Hurry, hurry, you know I'm impatient with these things; I want it to be my turn again." Hell laughed and the message seemed to be over. Koe finally closed his mouth and he stared at them blankly.

"You better get going." He said somberly before flying away, his wings disappearing in the black night. Zoro didn't need to be told, he was already running through the city towards the desert. Akio quickly caught up with him and the two simultaneously flipped their hoods over their heads as the desert came into view.


	6. The Hounds' Threatening Shadows

Ch 6: The Hounds' Threatening Shadows

The Lost Children were near the horizon, their light casting an ominous array of colors on the sky. Everyone's shadows were stretched out across the sand. Since leaving Gray's shack they've traveled a great distance towards Senshoku-kin, even with Luffy's moaned about being tired and hungry. Just a little off in the distance they could see some of the light being reflected off the golden city.

Nami's heart leapt with joy; not even in her wildest dreams has she thought of a city made of _pure_ gold, actually cursed gold. "Huh, why are we stopping?" She asked Rose who suddenly halted the group to stop and look around. Rose was too busy surveying the landscape to respond, she probably didn't even hear her. Everyone looked around silently, trying to find the reason for their delay. But Rose suddenly grabbed her bow off her back and prepared an arrow.

"What's wrong?" Usopp gasped by the sudden course of action.

"We have company." She replied quietly, narrowing her eyes. The air was heavy with anticipation. Suddenly Rose pointed her arrow to her left and everyone's gaze followed. A moment passed before something appeared.

"Don't worry Rose, it's just a deer." Percy said chuckling. Rose didn't move. Stars flashed in Luffy's eyes.

"That's so cool! Chopper, try talking to it!" He said excited. Rose didn't even bother stopping them.

"W-Who are you—" Chopper began, but he was quickly cut off when the reindeer spoke for itself.

"There's no need; I am perfectly capable of speaking your language—I am Me." He said without his mouth moving.

"You mean like 'eyes'?" Usopp asked, tilting his head. Me didn't respond. _So…_ Rose thought, glaring at the creature_. This is who was following us. Why didn't they say anything to me? _ Me took a step closer, his hoof cautiously stepping back down onto the sand. Before anything else could happen two figures jumped in between everyone and Me and sand exploded into the air, shrouding their vision. Me stumbled away, his front hooves shifted uneasily as if he stepped on something. He stared into the cloud of dust inanimately, unfazed by the sudden attack.

"What the hell was that?" Sanji gasped, coughing. The cloud slowly cleared and revealed Zoro and Akio. Both had their weapons out, Zoro held only Wado Ichimonji. They stood like a wall protecting the group from Me. Zoro grinned, flashing his fangs. He put his hands on his hips and turned his sword just enough so the sunset light glistened off the silver blade. The shining light hit Me's eyes but he didn't even blink. The light was sucked away almost like it was trapped in a black hole.

"What's going on here, Marimo?" Sanji yelled on everyone's behalf.

"Did you guys bring food?" Was all Luffy cared about. The swordsman sighed and glanced over his shoulder as if making sure they were actually there. He sighed again and looked back at Me.

"We're here saving you." He said simply.

"From what?" Robin asked closing her book finding this more interesting.

"From _him._" Zoro said venomously, jutting his blade at Me. "He works for Hell as an observer; Hell sees everything through his eyes." He kept himself from looking at those lifeless things.

"Please, don't be alarmed." Me said without emotion. "I can do no harm—literally."

"What does he mean by that?" Percy asked Rose who hadn't lowered her bow this entire time. Akio answered for her. "As a part of his contract with Hell he is not able to harm anyone, even if he's being attacked."

"Still, that doesn't give us a reason to attack him." Chopper said trying to keep peace.

"Oh yes it does." Zoro lounged at Me and swung his katana at him. Me, however, vanished and appeared a few feet away, unharmed. "Tch," Zoro glared at him and put his blade into a different position.

"Rose, get everyone out of here." Akio said pulling the hammer on his gun back. She gasped.

"I'm not going to leave during a fight!"

"Same here, I won't run away." Luffy said sternly. Zoro's fingers twitched in anger and he turned towards Luffy.

"Of course you're leaving." He growled walked up to him.

"I won't leave my nakama to fight alone." Luffy said standing his ground. Zoro picked him up by the collar of his shirt.

"Well then, I guess I'll have to cut your limbs off so you _can't_ fight."

"Wait a minute Zoro, weren't you arguing for Luffy's _safety_?" Usopp jumped in. Luffy didn't say anything but his expression told him that he wasn't about to leave anytime soon. Zoro closed his eyes for a moment.

"Please…" He whispered only so Luffy would hear. He opened his eyes even though they were still the color of crimson there was no anger in them. He gently put Luffy down. The captain bit his lower lip and pushed his hat down in front of his face.

"Fine," He mumbled, defeated.

"Luffy?" Everyone gasped.

"Rose, go now." Akio said; he seemed to have already convinced her.

"All the way to Senshoku-kin; he'll just teleport after us." She glanced at the city and back.

"Not if we cut him up." Zoro smiled.

"And fill him with holes." Akio lifted his gun and aimed it. Me stared at them; the threats didn't even make him flinch. Rose was satisfied with that answer and she began leading the group away from the fight, breaking into a jog. Luffy looked at Zoro for a minute, wondering why it was so important that he didn't fight.

"Come on," Sanji shoved him back into reality and he started running with the others.

"Wait, Rose," Zoro suddenly remembered. "Don't go to Senshoku-kin,"

"Huh?" Again she halted.

"Koe's there." Rose moaned and started running again. They'll have to find someplace else to stay, but she thought that Me was enough to deal with, now Koe? She sighed, at least it was only them and not—her thoughts were cut off when another animal jumped in front of them.

"Where do you think you're going?" The animal's voice was sassy and feminine with a hit of lust. Everyone skidded to a halt as the animal growled. It was a black wolf with crimson eyes and a sly grin. The wolf started to stalk the group and laughed. Suddenly it pounced on Usopp but Zoro jumped in on time. Instead of taking Usopp's head off the wolf ended up biting down on Zoro's sword. With a smirk the wolf liked the blade with its tongue.

Zoro fell onto his back and kicked the wolf off of him. "Go!" He screamed at them and without hesitation they did.

"You won't get away." The wolf said bounding after them. Percy glanced over his shoulder as the wolf pounced again. He spun around and surprised everyone by doing a round punch to the wolf's jaw sending it flying into a dune a hundred feet away. He cracked his knuckles and laughed.

"That was just a warm up."

"Hey," Luffy suddenly stopped. "Why does he get to stay?"

"He's not," Akio shouted. "Percy, go with everyone else."

"Tch—fine." Percy reluctantly turned around and he and Luffy returned to running away.

"Who is that Rose?" Nami asked gasping. Rose was silent for a moment.

"Her name's Ha, she also works for hell; I'll explain everything later." Ha recovered from her impact against the dune; sand was harder than it looked. She shook herself clean and growled. _How dare they make a fool of me! _She broke out into a sprint but quickly slid to a halt when bullets hit the ground in front of her paws. She scowled at Akio who held his gun up, smoke drifting out of the muzzle.

"You will regret having stopped me." Ha said threateningly. Akio took no notice and put in a new magazine. He pulled the hammer back, proving that he was ready for a fight. Zoro walked over to his side with his sword resting on his shoulder. He sighed and squared off with Ha.

"They're far enough now." He said without taking his gaze off of Ha. She growled, baring her teeth and lowering her head. "Me's gone too." He added.

"We can deal with him later; she's enough of a problem now."

"You Hounds need to learn your place." Ha slowly crept closer.

"It's true that during the switch between night and day you're at your strongest, however, I think we're enough for you." Zoro said irritating her. It worked; she attacked, raising her claws into the air. The black wolf landed in between the two Hounds who jumped in different directions. Ha swiped her claws through the air but missed. Instead her paw landed on the shoulder of Zoro's shadow. Suddenly Zoro's real shoulder torn open and began bleeding. He grunted and garbed this fresh wound with his free hand. The warm, sticky blood seeped in through his fingers and stained his clothes.

"You two are enough?" Ha mocked. Akio's gun fired and it sounded like thunder rumbling and crackling in the air. Ha threw her head back in pain as the bullet pierced her back. Then she stumbled forward as another hit her front leg. She took deep breaths before absconding.

"You okay, Zoro?" Akio asked lowering his silver gun. Zoro took a deep breath and released his grip on his wound.

"I'm fine." He said calmly. The two turned to Ha who recovered from the wounds. She turned to face them, her fur standing on ends.

"I'm going to snap your necks with these very teeth." She warned menacingly. Zoro ignored her and swiped his sword downward through the air. The slash materialized in the air and was released in a blue energy that shot out towards Ha like a cannon.

"36 Pound Cannon…" He muttered under his breath. The attack cut through the sand as if it was paper but Ha was still able to dodge by jumping to the side of it. The attack passed by like a moving wall before dispersing into the air. The pain from the bullets was now obsolete to her and she started to charge. Zoro managed to jump back, missing her claws yet again, but like last time her paws still hit his shadow. As Zoro landed, dust flying in the air, a large X formed on his chest. The same wound which would've formed if her paws made contact. The swordsman clutched his bleeding wound with both his arms and he panted. His skin was burning even though she never touched him and the wound was not just some paper cut.

"Been awhile since you've fought me, hasn't it?" Ha sat down in the sand and lifted her head high like a noble. With a smirk she licked her lips.

"And it's been a while since you've fought _us_." Akio said. She seemed to forget that he was even there and this time the bullet hit her skull. Her body jerked to the ground and landed with a 'plop', dust swarmed around her. Zoro tried straightening himself but cringed from the pain that jolted through his body. He whipped the blood that tricked out of the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand and stared at Ha's body, wondering if that was enough to beat her.

In the silence a raven's cry was easily heard. The two Hounds looked up in the sky and saw a strange black cloud above them. The raven cried again and sudden the cloud started to move and squirm.

"Eh—I don't think that's a cloud…" Akio said nervously. The 'cloud' suddenly broke apart revealing that it was actually an unkindness of ravens. "K-Koe?" Akio gasped aiming his gun, but he was unsure of which one to hit. "Which one's the real one?" He screamed to Zoro.

"How the hell should I know?" Zoro barked back, just as bewildered as he was.

"Should you really be looking up there?" Zoro looked down and saw Ha getting up wearing a grin that showed off her bleach white teeth. She cracked her neck and looked at him through her narrow, crimson eyes.

"I got her, you handle Koe." Zoro said preparing himself.

"Easier said than done." Akio said still unsure of which one to hit as the unkindness continued to swarm above them; the incessant squawks mocking him. He fired and hit one but it only vanished into black smoke, but then the black smoke traveled through the unkindness and seeped back into one of the ravens. _That must be him._ Akio thought. He squinted his eyes and fired. The bullet only grazed the bird's wings but it still held its shape. The raven screeched in pain as feathers from its wounded wing danced in the air. Quickly Koe was lost within the others. _Damn…_

Zoro blocked Ha with Wado Ichimonji at the last second. Her claws wrapped around the blade as he held her up in the air. She laughed. "Why don't you use another sword; it will certainly make it easier for yourself."

"Because—" He threw her off; she gracefully landed with her paws spread apart. "I don't need to." He glared. She laughed and tensed her muscles. However, a sudden cry brought both of them away from the fight. "Akio!" Zoro gasped. Something like a large, black bullet shot through his side right below his heart. Once the black object passed through him it morphed back into Koe and took flight back into the sky. Zoro ran towards his friend and caught him before he collapsed to the ground. The swordsman held his limp body in his arms, Akio was not dead though. He was cringing from the pain in his side and coughed up blood. The blood from his wound was soaking his clothes faster than Zoro could stop it. "I'll bring you to Chopper," He assured in a hushed voice. "Just hang on." Zoro gently stood up and held Akio in one arm, but he refused to put his sword away. He quickly gazed around the desert, searching for the aura of his friends and when he found it he broke out into a sprint.

"Don't think you're going to get away." Ha said jumping in front of him. She lounged at him with her claws bared. Zoro's reflexes kicked in and he ducked underneath her. For the first time her claws made contact with him and scraped along his back. Ha quickly shifted her claws and dug them into his shoulder blades. Zoro grunted from the pain of her claws ripping his skin and bone, but he didn't falter. Ha rode of his back and continued to claw at his flesh. She enjoyed the scent of the fresh blood and the feeling of the warm, crimson liquid on her skin. Her eyes flashed in joy.

Zoro screamed and tried to shake her off but still worried about keeping his friend steady in his arm. He swung the sword at her but he only succeeded in having his arm scratched. "This is fun!" Ha laughed like she was riding a bull. Akio moaned and lifted up his gun which took most of his remaining energy. "If only this bullet would kill you…" He muttered, aiming it at her head.

"Huh?" She stared at the muzzle confused. Without warning it fired and hit her right between the eyes. She whimpered in pain and finally fell off of Zoro's back. She rolled in the sand a few times before turning motionless. Zoro laughed at her defeat and Akio grinned before going limp again. His arms dropped down and his fingers grazed the sand as Zoro ran.

"Where're almost there." He assured seeing a small rock formation in the distance. They must've taken shelter there.

"How will we fight them again?" Akio asked half-conscious.

"What do you mean?"

"Look at us…we could barely take care of them now…how will we fight and protect the others at the same time?" Zoro's face turned grim and his thoughts raced. He never thought of that; and he didn't think they were doing _that_ bad, well –until the end that is. How will they protect the others? The very thought of them dying because he's weak haunted him. He knew he should have more trust in them because, despite their looks all of them were strong, but still. These weren't humans, they were demons, monster. Zoro stared at the small rock which was quickly growing closer, the place where his friends were—what will they think when they see him so beat up? He felt so weak when the age old question popped into his head: 'how do you kill something that's already dead?'


	7. The Hound's True Howl

**OMG! I'M SOOO SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG TO POST THIS! I've been very busy lately and emotional chapters are hard for me to right, me being a non-emotional person and all. This chapter is kind of confusing and possibly boring but I hope you enjoy…If you have questions about it please just ask. Don't worry next chapter should be easier for me and it will have a little twist to it. So look forward to CH 8!**

Ch 7: The Hounds True Howl

_Again…with this cave…_ Zoro sat up, his head throbbing. He groaned and ran his hand threw his hair. There was a sharp, stabbing pain behind his eyes and it hurt to look around. He sat up a little father. The air was moist and cold making his skin feel clammy. Once Zoro sat up his head ache grew and the room started to spin. He reached for something to steady himself but there was nothing around him. He groaned some more and rubbed his head. Finally the room stopped swaying even though he was still sick to his stomach. _Where the hell am I?_ He looked around but the cave was dark and shadows shrouded his vision.

_Ah, is it my turn again?_ A familiar voice asked. Zoro jumped and stared at the center of the cave where seven small lights illuminated a small patch. Hell was the last person he wanted to see right now.

_What do you want?_ Zoro snapped; ignoring the pain that coursed through his body. He clenched his fists when Hell's only answer was a taunting laugh. Zoro took a few steps closer towards the glowing lights. Hell was lying on his stomach, his head leaning on one elbow while the other hand waved his the air. The seven lights were small spheres that circled Hell in a straight line. With his free hand he poked one of the lights using his long claw. The sphere bounced out of line but quickly corrected itself and started circling again.

Zoro stared at the lights, entranced by the soft, light blue glow. When he looked at them he felt lighter and the pain seemed to fade away. However, Hell's voice brought it all back.

_Do you like them? _He asked. _They should seem familiar to you. _

_What are they?_ Zoro wondered calmly. Hell's next laugh bellowed and echoed within the labyrinth.

_'What are they', you ask? They're the reason you're in this situation…This game is most entertaining, but every game must have some sort of prize. _Hell tapped another one out of orbit. _Listen here; if you win our little game I'll give you these. But if I win then I keep them and you best be prepared for a punishment my little pup… _Zoro growled and pulled on his collar.

_This doesn't mean a thing._

_ You've defied me Hound and if it wasn't for this game of ours you'd be punished already. _

_ Why's this game so important to you? _

_ That's a stupid question…just remember your prize…_

_ Maybe I don't want your stupid prize. _Hell chuckled at the swordsman remark.

_Well then, you better say goodbye to your nakama because they may just be seven tickets out of here. _Zoro's body tensed and he stared at the orbs; could they really be a way out of here for everyone else. Hell laughed at his reaction. He tapped his fingers on the rocky ground; his expression suddenly changing, a low grumbling forming in the back of Hell's throat. _Zoro…I believe it's your turn… _The cave suddenly grew darker and everything closed up.

_No!_ Zoro ran towards the faint glow of the orbs—the things that would set his friends free and spare them his fate. His chest ached, longed to see them smiling again; sailing on the ocean; not stuck in this desert. Even when the orbs vanished into the darkness he still ran. Even when he knew there was no exit, no escaping he still ran. But slowly he stopped. _What's the point of trying…?_ A small voice said in the back of his head; his arms hanging by his sides. _When you know you're already going to lose…? _

He slowly opened his eyes but darkness still surrounded him. Something crackled off to his right and he turned his head, curious to see. It looked like hands stretching up into the air and waving around. It gave off a soft glow that was comforting and warm. He blinked and continued to stare at it when it hit him that it was fire. He blinked again and tried sitting up, but even the slightest movement caused his back to burn in pain and he cringed back onto the floor.

"Zoro!" He heard a small voice gasp and Chopper appeared, looming over him. "Are you feeling okay?" He asked placing a small hoof onto the swordsman's shoulder.

"Yeah—I'm fine." He sat up again, pushing the pain away.

"Don't move!" Chopper ordered; glancing over at Zoro's back. "Argh, you opened your wounds again!"

"Wounds?" Zoro turned his head around and looked over his shoulder at the bandages tightly wound around it. Then he realized that behind the burning, throbbing pain that scorched through him with the slightest movement was a warm, damp feeling on his skin. He looked at his back again and saw the bandages stained with fresh, warm blood. The fire's glow making the crimson liquid light up and look glossy. "Ops, sorry." Zoro apologized nonchalantly. Chopper growled and grabbed new bandages from his bag.

While the little reindeer was occupied with the new bandages the patient looked around the fire and saw everyone sitting around it, leaning against a rocky wall; he couldn't tell if they were happy or worried to see him. Like the darkness that surrounded him in his strange dreams and the shadows that lurked at the edges of the fire's glow, his mind was empty and blank like a night deprived of stars. He moved his gaze from one pair of eyes to the next but he couldn't seem to remember what had just happened, how he got these wounds, or why his friends were all acting so strange. So instead he waited, expecting to say something soon. Chopper had been the only one to talk but even his words didn't explain anything.

Zoro opened his mouth to speak when Nami stormed up to him and slapped him clean across the face. He growled and held his stinging cheek. "What was that—" He turned to her but lost all reason to argue when he saw tears welling up in her eyes.

"You idiot." She said as the tears broke and streamed down her face, glistening with the fire's glow. "Making us worry like that." She backed away a little. Zoro stared and he would've said something if he had any idea what she was talking about. He looked for Akio for help; maybe he knew what happened.

"W-Where's Akio…" He asked once he didn't find him. This time it was Rose who reached her hand up to attack. Zoro was still so dazed he didn't he attempt to block. Percy, however, grabbed her arm and pulled her away.

"Calm down." He said while she failed in his grip. Finally she took a deep breath and pushed herself away. Rose stomped out of the cave, glaring at Zoro as she walked by. She disappeared out the mouth of the cave into the night.

"Do you seriously no remember anything?" Sanji asked calmly, staring at his nakama with blank eyes. He too was hiding some rage that bubbled just beneath the surface.

"Should I?" Zoro scratched the back of his head.

"Stop moving!" Chopper snapped. _He seems much angrier than normal…_ Zoro noted. Again he looked over his shoulder at his back, but froze at the sight. Large gashes lined his shoulders and spine, some running from the top of his neck to his lower back; it looked as if an animal hopped on top of him and scratched away to its heart's desire. The pile of old, bloody bandages lay off to the side and Chopper held the new ones he was about to put on.

"Does it hurt?" Chopper finally returned to normal and looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Huh, oh…not really… What the hell happened?" Zoro turned back towards everyone else but it was Sanji who exploded this time.

"Why don't you trust us a little more; if you did this would've never happened!" He screamed, jumping up from his seat by the fire. Zoro flinched slightly but he couldn't find the strength to argue back; he had a feeling that what Sanji was saying was true. "You're such an idiot, Marimo, you even got Akio hurt!" Zoro choked on his own breath and froze. _Akio was hurt too? What the hell happened? What did I do that was so bad? _

Suddenly out of the corner of his eye he spotted Akio unconscious on the floor 10 feet away. His gaze was locked onto the defeated form of his friend. A pained look etched Akio's face as his chest heaved up and down, his side wrapped in bloody bandages. _What happened to him?_

"Well, are you going to say something?" Sanji yelled at him. His voice brought Zoro back to them. Luffy grunted under the shadows of his hat. _Not Luffy too…_

"If only you didn't push us away then maybe we could've helped. We're _trying_ to help you and you keep pushing us away." His calm, stern voice was almost more spine chilling than Sanji's loud uprising. _What is he talking about?_

"If you don't let us we can't help you…" Usopp said sadly as he clutched his knee closer to his chest. _Why won't they just tell me what's going on?_

"It's not like you're protecting anything," Robin commented. "Now that we know that you're a Hound we'll just leave you once we get out of here." The shadows from the fire danced across her face and her raven hair. Nami crossed her arms and she glared down at him, no longer crying. Zoro's heartbeat quickened out of confusion, nervousness, and anger; beads of sweat ran down the sides of his face.

"Why did you even bring us here in the first place?" She scowled, tapping her finger nails on her arm.

"Typical Hound…" Percy grumbled, right next to him. Zoro shut his eyes, trying to keep himself from lashing out and as he was about to open his eyes to do so everything grew silent. Darkness surrounded him, a darkness that was all too familiar to him. He heard soft voices somewhere in the distance but he couldn't be sure. Soon the voices turned to laughter. In the suffocating darkness the laughter echoed and a small light appeared. It reminded him of something important, something that he needed to obtain. He started to run towards the light but it stayed just out of reach. This scene also seemed too familiar; he would never obtain something so why continue to run towards it?

Suddenly, when he stopped, light flooded into the darkness and he found himself sitting up; cold sweat running down his face. Everything was blurry: his vision, his mind. He felt pain in his back beginning to grow but ignored it easily. He gasped for breath as if someone was choking him and his shoulders heaved up and down, only causing his back more pain. _Where am I now? _

"Oh and Sleeping Beauty awakes." Sanji laughed somewhere behind him. Zoro didn't reply; he grabbed his head as a sudden head ach started to dwell.

"Zoro, are you feeling okay?" Chopper asked worryingly. Again he didn't reply. He couldn't even think straight let alone speak correctly. He clenched his fists causing a small trickle of blood to escape his palm. He could feel everyone's eyes glued to his back. It would help if he could remember what happened or where they were. His thoughts swirled around like a restless storm.

"We're glad you're okay, for a minute there we though Hell got the best of you…" Usopp said, trying to be cheerful. _…Hell… _Without warning he threw the small blanket off his legs and sprinted outside of the cave.

Once he was a good 10 feet away from the mouth and consumed in the darkness of night well enough so no one could see, he collapsed to his knees. All of his memories flooded back into as if a dam was suddenly broke.

"Zoro!" Luffy stood up when Akio stopped him.

"You stay." He said bluntly, running out of the cave after him. Luffy groaned and reluctantly sat back down.

Zoro's stomach twisted into a knot and he clutched it painfully, keeping his balance with his other hand. His head continued to pound and his back burned. …_Hell…Hell…Hell….Hell…_ The word toyed endlessly. The darkness that once clouded him with ignorance now was so dense he felt his whole body would be crushed under the weight. He clenched his jaw, attempting to keep himself from vomiting. His heartbeat thundered in his ears and his breathing sounded like a violent wind whipping by. He faintly heard someone walking up to him but didn't pay much attention to it.

"Zoro…" Akio knelt down next to his friend, who was hunched over in what looked like unbearable pain, and he knew that it wasn't from his back; Hell must've done something to him. The dream he had with Hell began to arise when he pushed it away and focused on more important things. "Zoro…" He said his name again with sympathy, knowing that nothing could be done to help at the moment. He wrapped his arm around Zoro's shoulder as an attempt to comfort him, but feeling his friend's body shuttered with pain only made his skin crawl.

Akio bit his lip nervously and ran a hand through his short hair, hair that was just like Zoro's; just seeing him in pain made the wound in his side hurt even more. He could feel the blood oozing out and wetting the bandages Chopper had put on, but the wound felt cold to touch, like ice. It was almost so cold that it burned. His fingers grazed the gaping hole in his side. The iciness created by Koe, a being of true darkness.

As Zoro grunted and collapsed completely onto the sand, Akio was brought back to reality. _Zoro…_ He gently placed his hand on his shoulder and a smile grew. Zoro had collapsed into a deep sleep, where hopefully he felt no more pain. Akio sat down cross-legged and watched as Zoro's chest rose and fell with each breath; this soothing rhythm making his drowsy as well.

"Hey….Akio…" He heard Sanji come out of the cave. Akio yawned before turning around to meet the cook's gaze. Sanji sat down next to the two Hounds and he looked down at Zoro worryingly. "Is he alright; he scared everyone a little back there." Sanji said without averting his eyes.

"I think Hell took his memories for a moment and getting them back is quite painful—it's happened to me before too."

"Why would Hell do that?" He asked, clenching his fists. Akio smirked and looked up at the black sky.

"Because that's how he has fun…" Sanji picked up sand and squeezed it between his fingers; then he allowed the small grains to slip through his knuckles and fall back down to the desert ground. "You know…everyone grain of sand here is someone's soul." Akio said suddenly. Sanji jumped to his feet, wiping his hand on his pants.

"…That's disgusting…" He moaned. Akio chuckled a little before falling silent again.

"Uh—would you mind if I stay out here with you for a little bit…." Sanji looked away embarrassed. Akio stared at him curiously and slightly surprised. "You know…just to make sure the Marimo isn't your burden…cause now he's ours; sadly."

"If that's what you want." The two sat in a comfortable silence, hardly able to see each other in the darkness, the only sound being Zoro's soft snores. "Do you like games?" Akio asked after a silence.

"It depends," The cook replied bluntly. He sighed and taped his finger against the bottom of his foot.

"Is something bothering you?"

"I-I just haven't had a smoke in a while; that's all..."

"Oh," This time Akio sighed; Zoro's snores softening slightly has his head rested in Akio's lap. "Do…Do you have faith in us?" He looked at Sanji with watery eyes, but Sanji didn't need to see to understand that he was nervous for the answer.

"Faith, isn't exactly the right word, do I trust you guys…" He tapped his finger a few more times. "I trust that you'll try your hardest." Akio bit his lip; wasn't a perfect answer. He patted Zoro's head like a dog, but he didn't mean for it to be like that. Hell took a 'wild card' and attacked Zoro, briefly taking his memories for kicks and giggles. Akio's dream with Hell arose freshly in his mind. Hell would soon be getting another 'wild card' and he couldn't be sure who would be the next target—probably himself, that is, if the rest of them aren't playing along.


	8. Changing the Hounds

Ch 8: Changing the Hounds 

The two moons were beginning to peak over the largest dune in the distance, symbolized a new day in Hell. The crew watched this 'moon rise' with somber eyes knowing that another day passed and they were still here. They started to pack their things from the night and prepare to leave, where to, they didn't know. Like blind men they followed the Hounds in their group hoping that freedom awaits them at their destination. Robin slid her book into her bag and threw it onto her back. Meanwhile Sanji kicked the wall with the tip of his toes as the craving for nicotine only grew worse. He clenched his teeth so hard he swore he heard them crack.

Outside of the small cave was one of their leading Hounds. Zoro sat against the rock wall and gazed out at the endless desert. Akio poked his head out of the cave and walked over to him. "Are you feeling better?" He asked taking a seat next to his friend.

"Yeah, I'm just pissed off at that sick bastard; taking my memories like that."

"Getting them back is a pain, isn't it?" Akio agreed.

"What about you is your wound healing?"

"That's one good thing about being a Hound: you heal so fast." He smiled in response. Zoro nodded and looked back out at the horizon as everything was getting covered in a thin film of red casted off by the Lost Children. "Um—Zoro I need to ask a favor of you…." The black haired teen said sheepishly. Zoro raised an eyebrow curiously. "Those dreams we have with Hell…he said something to me…"

"About the prize?" Zoro asked.

"What?"

"Never mind…what'd he say?"

"He told me that he was going to kill Rose." Akio said bluntly; he tried to keep the tears in his eyes.

"Are you serious? Why would he—" Zoro gasped, but Akio only shook his head.

"I don't know, but he also said that if I don't turn myself into him he'll kill everyone else." Rage suddenly stormed inside of Zoro's chest. He clenched his fists; knuckles cracking. _That bastard; like I'm going to let him lay a finger on my nakama!_ Akio lifted his head from his knees, a few stray tears making their way down his cheek. "Zoro…I can't leave her, there's no way I can leave Rose alone knowing that…." With a deep sigh the swordsman put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"What do you have in mind?"

"Well, not much…" Akio said reluctantly. Just then Zoro noticed a small ear on the wall above them and then it disappeared only leaving a few sakura petals to dance to the ground. _Robin?_ He wondered. As of on que Robin appeared wearing her signature, sly smile.

"I couldn't help but _overhear_ your conversation, and I believe I could be of help."

"What do you have in mind?" Akio asked, nervously bowing his head. She dropped to her knees and moved in closer to whisper. Cupping her mouth she said: "You could dye your hair and change clothes."

"What do you mean?" Zoro scowled as if it were obscured.

"Have you two not noticed but you look like twins, except for the hair." She explained. Akio rubbed his head embarrassed.

"Do we really look that a like?"

"Okay so after magically dying our hair, what's next?" Zoro crossed his arms, skeptical.

"Zoro, you'll have to act as Akio and go off to Hell so he won't come and kill all of us, and Akio at the same time will be able to protect Rose." She talked about murder as if it were nothing.

"That's actually a pretty good idea—but still, where are we going to get hair dye?" _And why is she sending me off to Hell so easily? _

_ "_One could always combine some of Chopper's medicine to make dye." She offered. Zoro moaned with his arms still crossed. It was a good idea, Akio could protect Rose and Hell won't be coming to attack his nakama because he'll be there disguised as Akio—but still, he didn't like the idea of leaving his nakama alone. As he thought about this he saw how into it Akio was; well of course he was, he could stay here with his lover and he wouldn't have to go off with Hell. Zoro sighed when the image of the blue orbs surrounding Hell came into his mind. The things that would get his friends out of here, the things that were with Hell.

"What do you think, Zoro?" Akio looked at him, excited at first but his smile faded when he saw the deep frown on his fellow Hound's face. "You—you don't have to do it if you don't want to."

"No," Zoro sighed again, thinking about the strange orbs that made him forget all of his pain and anger. "No, I'll do it."

With that said Robin happily went inside and asked Chopper for some medicine he gave it to her but demanded to know why. She told him that he'll understand later. Next, she shooed everyone out of the cave excluding Zoro and Akio. Rose crossed her arms and she stood in the sand. Again she was being left out of the secrets; she felt so worthless. An hour passed when Luffy started moaning again.

"Robin….are you done yet; what are you even doing?" The three were so far back into the cave that the rest couldn't see.

"That should do it." Robin smiled, finishing up. The Hounds looked at each other. "You better be off Zoro, before it gets to be too late." She added cheerfully. _Why the hell does she want me gone?_ He thought somewhat hurt by it.

"We better go explain everything to them." Akio stood up dusting his clothes off. Zoro scratched his head and saw a little of the dye come off on his fingers. He whipped it on his pants and made a mental note of it for later. Robin smiled to herself and holstered up her back again but her book on Hell fell out. Zoro reached down to pick it up when he noticed that it was open to a page, a certain page about blue orbs. He immediately picked it up and started reading, following the two out of the cave without taking his eyes off of the page.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" Nami blurted out saving everyone their breath after seeing the three walk out.

"Zoro where are your swords?" Luffy asked curiously, his question actually for Akio.

"I'm Akio…" He sighed.

"Huh?" Luffy tilted his head in confusion.

"Robin, what did you do?" Chopper asked next. Zoro then appeared reading Robin's book, yet he looked like Akio, clothes and everything. Robin giggled.

"Just let me explain." She began. "Akio was summoned to Hell but Zoro's going instead so they switched identities." _Explain? _Zoro finally closed the book after a long sigh. _She left out all of the important parts… _He handed her the book and she took it with a grin, putting it back into her bag.

"Here," Akio was suddenly holding out his silver gun to Zoro.

"Huh?"

"Well we have to switch weapons too, don't we?" He smiled, closing his eyes at the same time. With a displeased grunt Zoro took his swords off of his sash and handed them to him.

"Take good care of them, okay?" Akio nodded in response.

"D-Don't we get a say in this?" Usopp asked suddenly.

"No," Zoro said bluntly as he started walking off into the direction of Hell.

"Can we come with you at least?" Nami took a step towards him.

"I have to do this alone." He said without looking at them.

"Why was Akio summoned to Hell?" Percy asked sternly.

"It's better if you don't know…" Akio mumbled. Sanji clenched his fists; he did not need this now along with his withdrawal. He then snapped, "What you don't trust us anymore? Huh, ever since we've gotten here you haven't told us anything; you act like we're strangers."

"You guys shouldn't be here, so the less you get involved the better….don't make me feel guiltier than I already do…" He whispered softly.

"What do you have to be guilty about?" Sanji scowled. Zoro turned to face him and flashed his fangs.

"Shut up Sanji, I'm trying to help you guys cause it's my fault you're here. Calm your ass down; don't think about following _or_ stopping me because there's something I need to get from him no matter what."

"What is that?" Luffy asked, not afraid of his first mate's outrage. Zoro's fingers twitched in annoyance. He flipped his head up.

"Tch—your souls, happy now?" He turned and walked away, but no one tried to stop him this time. His nakama watched as he faded into the distance; they all had knot in there throat and couldn't speak. But Sanji suddenly kicked at the sand and pulled on his hair.

"That asshole, doing everything on his own…not letting us help; making us feel worthless like shit…" The rest of the pirates looked at the ground feeling the same. Akio sighed and patted Zoro's pants.

"Huh?" He felt something in one of the pockets; reaching in to pull it out he found that it was a small box. There was a note on it that read: _Here you shitty cook, I hope you die on them… From, Zoro _A smile found its way onto the Hound's face when he realized that it was a pack of cigarettes from Senshoku-kin. "Sanji," The cook looked up at the sound of his name and caught the small box as Akio tossed it over to him. "Those were made in Senshoku-kin so they're safe."

"No sudden combustion?"

"No…" Akio smiled. Sanji chuckled and took a fresh cigarette out of the box. The sweet nicotine made him sigh happily.

"That stupid swordsman…" He lit the cigarette and breathed in the smoke, holding it in before puffing it into the air. God it felt good. "Percy," He held the box out to him but the large man shook his head, content.

"What kind of captain am I?" Luffy mumbled under his breath as he stared at his sandals.

"What was that Luffy?" Chopper asked, but he ignored the reindeer.

"What kind of nakama am I if I'm letting him just walk off to Hell…" Their captain's body started to shake with haphazard emotions.

"Luffy, it's not like he was going to let us come with him; you know how thickheaded he is." Usopp said shrugging. Luffy pulled his hat so it covered his face as tears dripped down his cheeks; the last thing he needed now was his crew to see him weak and vulnerable like this.

"Zoro will be alright; we worked out a plan." Akio assured.

"Why did you let him go?" Luffy snapped at him. "Why would you put that on him; you were the one summoned, right…not him!" Akio flinched back as guilt over took him like a crashing wave.

"I…"

"Hell is planning to kill Rose." Robin said inanimately. "Akio wanted to stay here to protect her."

"What?" Rose gasped, "This is happening because of me?"

"No, it's everyone's fault." Robin added. "I didn't want to tell you the whole story until Zoro left because you might've been more motivated to stop him…Hell was going to kill all of us if Akio didn't give himself in."

"That's why Akio wanted to stay here to protect Rose…" Nami said with a finger on her chin, finally understanding it all. Akio blushed, was his love for her _that_ obvious? Robin explanation only added fuel to Luffy and Sanji's raging fire. So it was also their fault that this was happening—and there was something that Zoro needed to get from him.

"Our souls…what did he mean by that?" Usopp spoke. Robin shook her head.

"I didn't know of that either…"

"I guess I should explain that to you too." Akio said gingerly.

"Explain what Akio?" Percy crossed his arms like a father lecturing his son. Akio fumbled with his fingers nervously for a moment; which was weird because and looked like Zoro, just a shy one.

"You see, whenever me and Zoro sleep we have these dreams where Hell talks to us…normally they're the same dream but last night they were different. I had the dream where Hell said he would kill Rose and…" Akio swallowed a lump in his throat. "Zoro must've had the dreams with the souls; he also mentioned something about a prize for a game,"

"What game?" Sanji yanked the cigarette out of his mouth, the ashes falling off of the tip at the same time.

"This whole thing is just one big game to Hell. He'll do anything to entertain himself." Akio pulled on Zoro's pants a little.

"And our souls, they're the prize for winning?" Sanji concluded.

"I guess so." He shrugged.

"What if we don't win?" Nami asked quietly. Robin lightly crossed her arms.

"I read something in the book Gray gave me that said you need a body and soul to leave Hell."

"He also said that anyone who doesn't belong can't stay." Percy added.

"If we get our souls then we can leave?" Chopper exclaimed hopefully.

"I don't know." She sighed.

"Don't forget, we still have to 'win'." Rose said negatively.

"And that's what Zoro's going after…he's trying to win…" Luffy finally lifted the rim of his hat up, the shadows creasing his face disappearing. "Akio, what do we do next?"

"We're going to wait a little before following him." He said.

"What about those animals, did you guys take care of them?"

"Eh—no, we still have to worry about them…" Akio flinched, remembering the creatures that dealt their wounds. Suddenly everyone heard a high-pitched laugh and looked up to see Ha, the black wolf looming over them at the top of the cave. She pulled her lips back into a grin, revealing her silver fangs.

"Oh, you have much to worry about." She laughed like a hyena; trying to hold in the urge to kill while savoring the moment.


	9. The Knell of Seperated Hounds

Ch 9: The Knell of Separated Hounds

Light tinted red filtered through the ceiling into the endless room. Zoro, disguised as Akio, sat underneath the crimson light on the cool, marble floor. Large, stone columns filled the room like a field of flowers. He glanced around, seeing no walls and no end to the spiritless chamber. He sighed and crossed his legs as the red light reflected off of the blue marble floor, shinning oddly onto the columns. Somewhere in the distance he heard footsteps which were slowly growing closer. They sounded slow and languid, deeply echoing throughout the labyrinth.

Zoro sighed and opened his eyes from meditation he was about to enter. As the footsteps grew closer he saw two crimson eyes appear in the darkness before the actual body to which the eyes were on. The crimson light which came down from the ceiling blended in with the eyes and reflected off the silver fangs which soon showed themselves in a shrewd smile. Soon a paw stepped down in front of him, something like a lion's paw covered in black fur with cunning claws.

"I was wondering where my host was?" Zoro grinned.

"Watch it, _Akio_; I only take smart comments like that from Zoro."

"What's so special about him?" He sighed, leaning back against a column. The rest of the beast appeared from the darkness. It had a wolf-like snout with tall, jackal ears. Its body was that of a normal canine's just enlarged, however, its tail was scrawny and serpent-like with a pointed tip. The creature's black fur glistened in the Lost Children's light making it look slick and glossy.

"Where are your horns today, Hell?" Zoro crossed his arms. Hell laughed and sat down, crossing its front pawns over one another, resting his head on them afterwards.

"Come now, you know I can change shape and size as I wish…besides, my horns always get in the way with these columns; it's too hard to play games in here with them, don't you agree?" Hell tapped his talons on the marble. "I'm glad you came Akio; if I had to kill everyone—it's no fun to play games by yourself, but I already told you that haven't I?" Zoro smirked.

"You're not going to leave your guest here with no entertainment, are you?"

"Of course not…want to play a game?" Hell flashed his fangs.

~*0-0*~

Ha jumped down from the top of the cave and landed in the center of their group. She laughed at their frightened expressions. "There you are, dear." She said after she spotted Rose. The female Hound growled back and reached for her bow when Akio stepped in front of her.

"You'll have to kill me before you kill her." He glared.

"Come now, _Akio,_ I know you have no experience with swords; you're a sitting duck." She grinned and cold sweat ran down Akio's face.

"How did you know?" He asked nervously.

"Please, like we didn't expect this would happen; Hell knows too, in fact this is what he wanted."

"I had a feeling that this wouldn't work." Robin stated nonchalantly.

"And you sent him off anyway?" Luffy gasped, somewhat angry at her. However, she didn't reply or even seem affected by her actions.

"Enough talk," Ha snapped. "I came here to kill." She lounged towards Rose but everyone dispersed in time. She skidded to a halt in the sand and growled. "Tch—like roaches scattering from the light."

"Any suggestion about fighting her?" Sanji asked.

"I thought you didn't fight women?" Nami gasped.

"Women, not animals…" He replied hastily.

"Ha, translated to Hell's teeth." Robin said. "I read in the book that she has the ability of manipulating shadows."

"What does that mean?" Luffy asked clueless.

"Whatever she does to your shadow she does to you." Rose simplified.

"So basically we have to fight her while making sure she doesn't touch our shadows at the same time." Luffy summarized.

"We're lucky…" Akio commented.

"How?" Usopp gasped, skeptical.

"She's the strongest at 'sunrise' and 'sunset', when your shadows are the longest. Now, the middle of the day they're at their shortest." He explained.

"Still…" Usopp moaned.

"The one with the long nose is right you don't have any chance to beat me." Ha snarled, preparing to pounce again.

"You lost before with only Zoro and, now it's nine against one." Nami grinned, favoring the odds. Ha's crimson eyes moved from one person to another, slowly analyzing her opponents. Then, without warning she pounced on Percy. _Any man in an apron is weak in my book!_ She thought as her claws were inches away from ripping him to shreds. Percy chuckled, surprisingly able to keep up with her speed.

"If you think I'm the weakest here, then think again." He quickly did an uppercut to Ha's jaw making her flip backwards into the air. _This is no human strength?_ A sudden wave of nervousness swelled over her as he fell to the ground, her skull still rattling. Percy cracked his knuckles. "I could beat you with one hand." He smiled, advancing on her as she was still dazed. Her vision slowly returned but it was too late and he was already on top of her. His right fist was tightly clenched as he brought in down on top of her head. She was thrown to the ground and sand shot into the air like an explosion. "You're too full of yourself!" Percy announced once the dust cleared and revealed that her head was stuck in the sand like an ostrich simply from the force of the punch.

"You're so cool Percy!" Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp stared at him, jaws dropped and stars in their eyes. The older man smirked as he saw Ha's arms and legs flailing, trying to pull her head out of the sand. Akio sighed with relief. Who knew Percy was so strong; but when he saw the man who was like his father freeze up the Hound's stomach twisted into a knot.

"P-Percy?" Akio asked nervously. Percy felt a sudden bolt of pain shooting through his body. Something warm started to soak his right shoulder. He slowly turned his head and saw his right shoulder gashed open and bleeding, staining his bleach white apron. _What is this, she never touched me? _He stared at the foreign wound in shock. Percy looked down and saw Ha's claws digging into the shoulder of his shadow.

Akio suddenly garbed the back of his shirt and yanked him away. "I told you to watch out for your shadow!" He yelled. "…Are you okay?" He sighed, releasing all of his anger.

"Yeah…" Percy took deep breaths.

"You sure do pack a punch, Percy-san." Robin commented curiously. Percy smiled over his shoulder.

"Ahhh!" Ha screamed and pulled her head out of the sand. "I don't understand what Hell sees in you roaches?" Her eyes lit up with anger. Percy got into a defense stance, thinking she would attack him again. However, she vanished and appeared behind him. _There's no way I'll go against that monster…his strength is too great, but no one can match my speed_. She thought as a smile grew. _I'll just take out Rose like the master told me to do._

"Rose!" Akio screamed, turning around to see her be attacked. Rose jumped away in time so only her sleeve was ripped by Ha's claws. Robin then crossed her arms and multiple arms appeared from the sand and pinned Ha to the ground. Akio reached from one of Zoro's swords but Kitetsu was giving off such a demonic aura and he knew that Wado was too important to his friend so he grabbed Yubashiri. With a quick and somewhat unbridled swing of the light katana a large slash appeared on Ha's back. She threw her head back and howled in pain.

As a reaction to the pain she started to thrash and flail under Robin's grip. Like a horse she kicked out her back legs, knocking Yubashiri out of Akio's hands and then she thrashed her head around and her fangs ripped open the flesh on Robin's arms. The many arms vanished in a puff of flower petals as blood started to drip down Robin's real arms. She gritted her teeth and her arms were slightly shaking from the pain.

"Robin!" Chopper gasped running over to her. "Let me help,"

"Later Chopper!" She snapped, not wanting it to sound as mean as it did; Chopper flinched and backed away obeying. Ha recovered and picked herself up with shaking legs. With a menacing growl she glared at everyone, but she was unaware of Sanji who was advancing from behind.

"How dare you attack a woman?" Sanji slammed the heel of his foot down onto her back, knocking her back down to the ground. Ha whimpered as blood splattered from her wound. Sanji kicked again this time with a sidekick sending her into the wall of a sand dune.

"Face it, you're out numbered." Rose hollered. As if on cue a black cloud moved over top of the group and Ha broke out into an eerie laugh.

"_I'm_ out numbered, look above you, roaches." She smirked, trying to hide the pain behind a smile; something only Akio could pull off correctly. Everyone looked up to see a large black cloud looming over them. However, the cloud was strange and seemed to be shivering.

Rose pulled her bow off of her back and prepared an arrow without hesitation.  
"Akio, don't you have your other gun—you know the black one?" She asked panicking.

"Oh yeah!" Akio beamed with relief and reached for his black gun, one identical in shape and size to his silver one but like the sword Kitetsu it was a 'troubled child'. "That means I forgot to give this to Zoro..." He sighed, mentally slapping himself for the stupid mistake, but quickly putting that aside he ran over and picked Yubashiri out of the sand and sheathing it back in place. He lifted his black gun up to the swarming cloud which they knew was Koe. The coal black gun glistened in the red moonlight and it seemed happy to have finally been drawn. Akio never liked to use it much because of its overwhelming blood lust; another thing it had in common with Kitetsu. He fired the pistol and hit one of the ravens but it wasn't the real one and only dispersed into a cloud of black smoke. He tried tracing this smoke back to the real Koe like last time but there were simply too many to keep track of it.

"Akio, look out!" Usopp warned. The Hound snapped his head to his left only to see Ha bounding towards him. With both Koe and Ha to worry about, along with keeping everyone safe like he promised Zoro he started to feel slightly stressed. Before he could aim his gun at the black wolf a small black bead already hit her and exploded with a small, fiery cloud of smoke. _What was that?_ He moved his gaze around and saw Usopp with his goggles over his eyes and his slingshot out. The tan teen was giving the older teen a thumb up and Akio couldn't help but smile.

"Great shot, Usopp!" Nami cheered. "You're amazing!" Chopper added joyfully.

"Who knew you could be of use, long nose." Akio chuckled with his smart remark, reminding himself of Zoro.

"You cockroaches are pissing me off." Ha hissed venomously shaking the ashes from Usopp's attack off of her fur. "If only Hell ordered me to kill all of you..." She paused and thought for a moment. "But technically Akio never turned himself in, Zoro did, and if Akio didn't turn himself in I would kill all of you." A sinister smile found its way onto her lips. "I will kill all of you." She took one leap towards Akio but erratically turned direction and started sprinting towards Usopp. Tears formed in the corners of the sharpshooter's eyes and he started to shake with fear as the wolf ran towards him with the intent to kill. He almost dropped his slingshot when his knees gave out underneath him.

"G-Get away!" He covered his head and closed his, waiting for his impending doom to come, but when nothing happened he peaked through his fingers and saw Luffy standing in front of him acting as a wall. "Luffy?" He gasped. Ha backed once Luffy stepped in front.  
"You..." She mumbled.

"What about him?" Sanji asked curiously.

"If I even so much as scratch you Hell will have my head." She said, talking more to herself than to the blond cook.

"Why me?" Luffy asked walking up to her, only forcing her back more. Koe squawked from above and the black cloud dispersed and the unkindness of ravens swooped down and started to circle Rose like a black tornado.

"Akio!" She called, scared. Akio ran towards her but the ravens wouldn't allow him to get too close. "Akio!" She screamed again.

"Rose!" Akio lifted his gun but lowered it with the fear of possibly hitting Rose. Meanwhile Ha surprisingly leaped towards Luffy, jumping over him and grabbing his hat by the rim with the front of her fangs. She landed behind him and took off into the desert.

"My hat?" Luffy felt his bare head with his hands and turned towards Ha but she was already out of sight. At the same time as she stole the hat the ravens suddenly dispersed into the air but there was no Rose in the center of the spiral. Akio ran towards where she was standing and went around in circles, desperately looking for a sign of her new whereabouts,  
"Shit!" He kicked the sand and fired his gun into the air a few times to release his anger.  
"Where did she go?" Chopper asked worryingly.

"She's with Hell..." Akio said somberly. "So is your hat."

"We have to go get my hat back!" Luffy exclaimed. Akio glared at him. "And Rose too..." He fiddled with his fingers, turning his sandal around in the sand.

~*0-0*~

While the battle with Ha was taking place Zoro and Hell began their game. Hell smiled politely, but he didn't fool Zoro who glared at him with his back still against one of the thousands of columns in the labyrinth like room. "Can I see your guns, Akio?" Hell asked, leaning on his elbows. Zoro grunted and reached inside of his black jacket and Hell's jackal-like ears perked up and the corner of his smile twisted.

"Here," Zoro pulled out Akio's silver pistol and held it in the air so Hell could see.

"Now that's all very nice, but where's the other one; they look so nice _together_." He sounded as innocent as a child caught with his hand in his the cookie jar. Zoro paused for a moment and stared at Hell. _He doesn't suspect anything...does he?_ Zoro reached in for the second pistol anyway. He knew Akio didn't hand him the black pistol because he hardly remembers it even there; maybe he left it in the coat. His heart sank when there was nothing there. With a deep sigh he was about to come up with a good explanation when Hell cut him off.

"No need to lie." Hell abruptly stood up on all fours, his demon tail swishing happily behind him, His crimson eyes flashed with excitement. Zoro prepared himself for the worst, but he didn't expect Hell to reach out and pick him up by the back of his jacket like a lion cub.

"What are you-" Zoro felt awkward being picked up by the creature he despises yet he wasn't filled with anger, it was more like an odd moment. Hell turned him around as his long claws slowly began to rip the jacket. Zoro felt like a piece of furniture being admired. He sighed waiting patiently till Hell was finished.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Hell said sincerely. "I was just thinking to myself: what a great disguise?" Zoro crossed his arms and Hell reluctantly put him down. "But it was so obvious that you would do such a dead for your dear friend."

"Shut up." He growled. Hell chuckled and used a long talon to push the silver pistol into Zoro's chest. The Hound looked up at him confused.

"Zoro, it's time for hide n' seek." He grinned. Zoro waited for him to move first; he kept his hand tightly wrapped around Akio's gun. Then, without warning Hell swiped his large hand through the air. Zoro managed to duck in time and the black claws grazed his head and took out the column behind him.

The column shattered and the pieces pattered on the marble floor. The sudden attack was enough of a sigh for the swordsman and he took off to his right, weaving in and out of the columns. He couldn't see the end to the room but it didn't matter, as long as he didn't see Hell behind him. He ran behind a column to catch his breath. He could hear Hell slowly following him, the monstrous creature happily taking his time. Zoro lifted the silver gun and the way the red light reflected off of the sleek metal made his head spin, but he couldn't worry about that now. He pulled back the hammer of the gun and the foreign 'click' reminded him that he had no idea how to use this gun. With a dead sigh and jumped out from behind the column and saw Hell right there, waiting for him. He aimed the gun fired. The sound echoed throughout the room, but Hell didn't even flinch. He knew that a bullet wouldn't kill Hell, but he at least expected the wound to sting or make him move. Hell blinked, confused. Zoro examined the gun and saw that the bullet was jammed halfway through the barrel.  
"Aw, shit..." He moaned at his bad luck. Hell laughed and started to charge again. This time he spun around and whipped his tail through the air, Zoro dodged this time and the pointed tip broke through the ground, shattered the prim marble. Zoro ran away again, cursing under his breath as he tried to fix the gun. However, the bullet refused to cooperate and stayed stuck in the barrel. He hid behind a column again."This sucks...I should've kept my swords..."

"Zoro...hide n' seek, remember?" Hell said slowly, allowing his voice to echo. Then everything got quiet. Zoro silenced his breathing and even then he didn't hear anything. _Where did he go?_ Hell's head randomly appeared to Zoro's left. Startled Zoro flinched and tripped the opposite direction.

"I got you." Hell grinned. Zoro lifted his gun into the air, the muzzle a few inches away from Hell's nose.

"No, I got _you_." He replied. Hell stared at the muzzle of gun with a smile. Why isn't he- Zoro's thoughts were cut off when a stabbing pain shot up through his back. The lightning like shock froze his body and he ended up dropping the gun. He could feel his back start to burn as a warm liquid seeped its way down his shit. His vision blurred but he forced himself to look down and he saw the point of Hell's tail stacked through his chest. He staggered at the sight and gasped but his lungs were slowly filling with his own blood and he wound up choking on the air. Hell ripped his tail back out and another jolt of pain sparked through his body. Zoro staggered but caught himself on a column; his shoulders heaved with every painful breath and he was vulnerable for the final blow, but Hell only wanted to watch the agonizing pain that his Hound was in. As his mind went blank and his eyelids drooped he tried to cover up the wound on his chest but the blood reluctantly seeped through his fingers.

Zoro collapsed to his knees and almost passed out if it wasn't for the headache pounding on his forehead, bringing him back to reality every time he started to drift. He looked down and only saw crimson red underneath him, it could've been the light coming down from the ceiling but he didn't think so. Hell laughed at his pain, but the noise didn't reach the swordsman's ears because an overwhelming squawking sound took over. It sounded like ravens but why would there be ravens at such a place. Suddenly his vision went black and he was sure he had just passed out but he didn't feel like it; he could still think as much as his aching mind would let him and the pain from his wound was not gone either. Then, the blackness just suddenly vanished and he felt something warm touch his shoulder. He painfully moved his head and saw a familiar face staring at him with dark, worrying eyes.

"Rose?" The name left his lips unconsciously. Rose embraced him in a hug as tears left her eyes; everything seemed to be moving in slow motion to Zoro, even then he couldn't keep up. Without realizing it he had put all of his weight onto Rose knowing that she would keep him up.

"You didn't kill her?" Hell asked Koe who perched himself on his shoulder. The raven didn't reply; it only stared at the girl with his crimson eyes.

"Zoro, don't worry," Rose whispered into his ears, not knowing if he was even still conscious. "I have a plan to get out of here." Zoro mumbled something in return but it was impossible to tell what because after that he fell unconscious for real.


	10. Hell's Little Hounds Start a Revolt

**HELLO PEOPLE! I want to thank everyone one who pushed me so hard to write more of this! **** Thank you guys so much! Love ya all! So, I hope you enjoy this chapter, especially after such a long wait I wanted to give you at least something descent …Well, enjoy and please tell me what you think! !REVIEW!**

Ch 10: Hell's Little Hounds Start a Revolt

Akio sprinted through the desert so swiftly that he seemed like only a blur of wind. His friends desperately tried to keep up with him; they found running up and down mountainous dunes to be more arduous than him. He suddenly stopped at the base of one of the sand mountains and he almost caused everyone else behind him to collide.

"Would you tell me what the hurry's all about?" Nami gasped venomously. She bent down over her knees as sweat ran down her face. Akio couldn't find it in himself to answer. He was afraid that if he opened his mouth even a little all of his rage would flood out and he wouldn't be able to control it. He clenched his fists as his eyes scanned the horizon. He has suffered Hell's punishment before with Zoro and he hated to think about it for even those memoires brought back the pain from that day. Something was different; however, he wasn't just angry—he was furious. Rose was gone, who knows what Hell did to Zoro after he found out that they switched places—his chain rattled in the small breeze. The chilling sound reminded him of what might await his friends: eternity here. He knew that was also another reason for all of his rage.

"Akio," Percy's deep voice snapped the young Hound out of his thoughts. "Where are you taking us?" He demanded. Akio swallowed a lump which was building up in his throat and he tried to usurp his emotions.

"Where do you think?"" He started, it came out nastier than he had planned but it was better than an all-out tirade. "We're going to Hell's place so we can get those two back."

"And my hat!" Luffy added; he received no reply from the Hound. Akio could feel his eyes growing redder and he shut, fearing someone might see.

"I don't see anything." Sanji commented as he blew smoke out from his well needed cigarette.

"Just follow." Akio growled as he started to walk forward again.

"Tch…" Sanji flipped his hair in annoyance from the man's attitude, but he reluctantly followed with the rest. Akio took a few more steps before suddenly stopping. He seemed to be staring at something in the sky but nothing was there.

"We're here." He said without looking at them.

"Where is it; there's nothing here?" Nami asked with her arms folded.

"Come walk up next to me." He motioned with his hands. Everyone listened and walked up next to him. When they did, most of them fell back in surprise.

"What the hell is that!" They gasped. Once they stepped up into Akio's spot a mountain suddenly appeared in front of them. The mountain was made of rugged rock and jagged peaks that scraped the red sky; the Lost Children looked as if they were perched on the apex.

"W-Where did this come from?" Usopp stuttered in amazement.

"It was always here." Akio answered bluntly.

"But we couldn't see it..." Nami's eyes widened.

"You can't see it until you're right in front of it; that's why it's so hard to find….Just another one of Hell's games." He sighed and started to walk up to the cave at the mountain's base.

"Do you have a plan once we get inside?" Percy jogged up next to him.

"Inside is like a castle, a maze, despite its looks." He stated. "If we're lucky Zoro and Rose will be keeping Hell busy so he won't notice us entering."

"How would he—" Chopper began.

"He can see everything inside his lair." The reindeer swallowed a growing lump in his throat. Upon entering the cave their vision was greatly deprived as footsteps echoed off the walls. Usopp and Chopper were huddling closely, eyes darting from side to side. "Now, when we get inside, make sure we don't get separated; he'll try to pick us off one by one." The Hound warned. The doctor and sniper only got closer together.

The cave ended quickly and they all entered a large, ball-like room with a glass, cathedral ceiling; the red light from the Lost Children was shining through. The floor was black and dark blue, checkered marble. Across from the entrance to this room was an immense staircase that went up and stretched to both sides, two columns were at the base of the stairs.

Akio looked both ways before walking in first. As he did so a strange sensation came over him, it was more like a burning from his collar. He glanced down on it and the words looked as if they just came out of an oven, pulsing red. He tried to ignore and by fiddling with his chain. Akio's mind was quickly muddled and he was unable to think of what to do next. Why would his collar be glowing now? He then felt a stinging in his eyes and saw in his reflection on the floor that they were also pulsating. His fingers wound around the chain even faster.

Suddenly his whole body grew cold, hair stood on end, skin crawled, and his heart seemed to stop beating. "Hurry…" He hastily darted across the room with everyone followed, confused. He told them to hide behind the left column; luckily it was thick enough for all of them to fit behind.

"What's wrong?" Nami whispered. Akio's lack of an answer was enough to make them all shut up. Heavy, sluggish footsteps started to echo throughout the ballroom. Then, from a hallway on the other side something came out. Akio knew it was Hell right away and just the sight of him made horrid memories return, but to the others they saw a creature with thick, black fur, it looked like it had lion's body minus the mane. Large, leather bat wings were scrunched up on its back, but they looked like it could extend at any moment. What looked like an alligator's tail was swishing playfully back and forth, the brawny muscle looked like steel under the scales of the tail where the fur didn't reach.

The monster laughed to the raven on its shoulder. Jagged teeth grinned in its canine-shaped mouth, crimson eyes glowed like headlights, and on its head next to the cat ears were tall, aciculate horns. Its claws scrapped against the marble but left no scratches.

"Is that Hell?" Robin asked, more curious than frightened.

"Yeah…" Akio replied back, swallowing a growing lump in his throat. Usopp and Chopper would've screamed in fear if it wasn't for Robin's extra hands keeping them shut. Then, from behind Hell came Zoro who still looked like Akio and Rose. Both of them glared at Hell intensely.

"Zoro…" Luffy, at the sight of his nakama, unconsciously took a step closer; Sanji had to grab his sleeve and yank him back before he came exposed. On the other side of the room Zoro paused and blinked a few times, turning his attention to the column where he sensed the others. _Just great, now they're here. _He sighed. The swordsman, who still looked like Akio, noticed that he never bother to get the dried blood off of his shirt. The wound inflicted from Hell's tail was indeed painful, though Hounds healed quickly in Hell, and already was the hole in his chest closing. _At least Hell's too much of an idiot to notice that they're here_… He saw how the large beast was immersed in a lengthy, yet probably pointless conversation with Koe who acted like being here on his shoulder was the worst thing in the world.

But then, as if things couldn't get any worse, a feminine voice called from open window near the top of the dome roof. _Everyone_ turned to see Ha jump in from the opening, she gracefully fell to the ground holding Luffy's straw hat between her two front teeth.

"Master, Master, look what I have its Monkey D Luffy's…" The wolf trailed off as she caught sight of the pirates pathetically hiding behind the stone column. However, she couldn't tell who was more pathetic—them, or Master who failed to notice the intruders who were just a few feet away from him.

"What is it?" Hell asked. Ha dropped the hat onto the ground. J_eez, he's such an idiot when he's distracted_… She sighed deeply before stomping on the hat with her paw.

"My hat!" Luffy jumped out of hiding, but skidded to a halt once he realized that he was out in the open. His sandals slide to a stop on the sleek marble and everyone started at him. Hell blinked a few times and looked at Luffy, then back at the column where all of the other heads of the pirates were clueless, poking from behind.

Slowly the silver fangs in the beast's mouth gritted back and forth and a low growl emitted from his throat. He then reared back onto his hind legs and Koe flew off his shoulder in the process. He then yelled, "make a foul out of me will ya?" He threw his right lion paw into the air and it transformed into a long snake with lashed out and obliterated the column into dust. The hiding pirates scattered like cockroaches into the far shadows of the room.

"Give me back my hat!" Luffy charged the wolf, which made no effort to keep the hat for herself, and she simply jumped out of the boy's way. With a hefty grunt he plopped the hat back onto his head and fitted it into place.

Hell's snake retreated from the remains of the column and he let out a scream—which was a mixture of a howl and lion's.

"Ahhh, shut up you pussy." Zoro jumped over Hell to get to Akio on the other side and in the process kicked him in the muzzle.

"Zoro…I shall kill all who make a fool out of me." He swiped his long claws at the snickering hound but was out of reach.

"Yo," Zoro landed next to Akio; the two still looked like the other, but quickly noticing this they took the other's sleeve and whipped the hair dye off of them, so now only their clothes were different.

"Here," Akio handed him his swords, and Zoro in return gave the man his guns. With a smile of relief they gripped their

"Ha, Koe, destroy anyone who dares to defy me." Hell ordered through baring fangs.

"Hai, Master." Ha said happily. She turned to Luffy who glared back at her, clutching his hat.

"You're lucky that you didn't get any holes in my hat." He said, cracking a few of his knuckles in intimidation. The female wolf only growled happily; the pirate only succeeded in arousing her. She could feel her claws and limps start to shake and she refused to blink. Luffy, was feeling somewhat the same thing though expressed it through a calm, icy glare.

"Oi, Luffy…" Sanji called out to his captain from about 40 ft away. He, like all of the others, was extremely confused about what exactly was going on, however, he knew that if Luffy gave out an order, he and his nakama would follow it; no matter how muddled their thoughts may be. "So, what do you feel like doing?" He asked, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the cigarettes he received from Zoro; the so called 'special' kind.

"Do whatever you feel like it." He replied. "Just make sure that all of their asses are kicked by the end of the day." Sanji snickered—as scary as he could be, he loved it when Luffy became like this.

"Be careful guys; I'm not in the mood to save anyone today." Zoro announced with his arms crossed.

"W-What's that supposed to mean?" Usopp gasped. "We can here to save _you_!"

"I never said I wanted saving…" Zoro shrugged. "Actually, I specifically remember saying that I _didn't_ want you guys to come."

"Seriously…you could at least be a little bit grateful…" Usopp grumbled under his breath and stomped a frustrated foot onto the ground.

~*0-0*~

All was silent as the pirates (and friends) stood at a deadlock with the Hell Forces. Ha and Luffy started to circle around one another, neither saying more than the occasional growl or snicker. Zoro and Akio stood; back's perfectly straight; hands soldered to their weapons; their crimson eyes fixed upon Hell and his pair of red jewels.

Meanwhile the rest of the crew (and friends) had huddled together, forming a small circle; backs against one another. Nami, Usopp, and Chopper were all shaking, arms wrapped around one another; their teeth chattered as eyes darted back and forth; eyeing up any of the enemies that might come after them.

Then, as the silence seemed become nothing less than an eternity, Koe, the black raven who had been patiently waiting on Hell's shoulder made the first move. He stretched out his wings and opened up his keen beak—releasing a silent cry. Then, in a matter of moments the small, single bird became surrounded by a vibrating black cloud; the sound of bird's filled the room—their flapping wings and squawks.

This morphing cloud flew up into the air and then swooped down in unison, as if it were one living thing, and soared over with blinding speed to the cluttered crew. Swarming the disoriented pirates in a whipping tornado of black, it slowly became harder to tell one raven in the unkindness to another—progressively morphing into nothing but a twisting black wall.

"Oi, Rose," Akio called out to her, but his voice could not usurp that of a thousand birds. "Zoro, what should we do?" He looked over to the swordsman, desperate. Without saying anything, Zoro took steps towards the others to help when a thick limp-like appendage slapped down in front of him; cracking and shattering up the ground.

He stumbled backwards and cut some debris that flew up to his face. The dust quickly disperse and revealed Hell's, crocodile tail squirming in the newly made rivulet before flopping out and jerking back toward Hell.

Zoro shoot a menacing glare at the beast who glared back with equal force; his red eyes easily visible through the dust that encircled him. Then Hell suddenly leapt out and one of his arms turned into a python; the snake then coiled and jolted out at the Hound, who managed to block it with one of his katanas.

Skidding on the ground, Hell dug his slender claws into the marble ground as a desperate attempt to find some sort of friction or grip. To no avail, he beat his leather wings, shooing away any lingering smoke and finally slowing down to a stop; directly in front of the swordsman and in between him and his friends.

Hell's black main fluttered in the breeze of movement; he pulled his lips back into a snarl as he towered over Zoro with an extra ten feet. His silver fangs lined his mouth evenly like a glass mosaic. Straightening and pulling back his shoulders, Hell lifted up his python-hand and coiled it up again.

At the same time this was happening, Koe and his unkindness screeched for a final time before disappearing completely in the blink of an eye—except Sanji, however. The cook looked around like a lost child; his eyes were wide in curiosity and worry—where had the rest of his nakama gone?

Luffy stared at the empty space where his friends used to occupy, the silence sat comfortably in the air, as if mocking the ones who were surprised.

~*0-0*~

Chopper opened his eyes and tried to move, but his whole body seemed stiff and his muscles ached. Grunting, he eventually lifted his torso up with his arms, only to come face-to-face with Koe, the black raven. The doctor froze in shock; the two animals staring at each other in a lull.

Koe cocked his head to the side like a confused dog; he was currently standing on Chopper's stomach with his bony, coarse legs. He then moved his head to the other side.

"H-Hello…." Chopper said nervously. "I-I'm Chopper…" Koe stretched out his wings so suddenly that it made the reindeer flinch. With his wings still outstretched he opened his mouth and kept it ajar, standing almost like a statue or robotic machine.

"Hello Chopper." He said with a voice which sounded much like a child. "I am Koe, Hell's raven and Voice…"

"Hello…" Chopper replied tentatively.

"Chopper, I am here to help you escape this place." The raven said candidly.

"E-Excuse me?"


	11. A Hound's Reflection is a Mimic of it's

**Wow, so sorry this took as long as it did to update. But I do want to thank all my readers who have stayed with this story and through its many faults… I especially want to thank GoddessOfNight08 for pushing me so much to write this. I hope it's worth it and please leave some reviews on what you think. Again, can't apologize enough on how late this is… (And all my other stories' updates) XC**

Ch 11: A Hound's Reflection is a Mimic of its Own Veil 

"W-What do you mean 'escape'?" Chopper's shrill voice brought the others to their senses. The raven Koe looked around and eventually turned back to Chopper saying, "It seems I've missed a few…"

"Hell yeah—way to scare the living shit out of me!" Nami swatted at the bird who fluttered into the air and landed on Rose's shoulder. He looked at Nami with his beady, black eyes and emotionless expression, she returned with her own glare.

"Please don't blame him; he's really on our side." Rose said.

"Sure uh-hu, I saw you before sitting like a king on a throne. Hell's shoulder looked quite conformable." Usopp crossed his arms skeptically.

"I shall prove this by showing you the way out of Hell." Koe said with a twitch of his head. "We travel to the top of this mountain where, once Hell is blind, a portal will open to your world."

"You're not making any sense to me." Percy mumbled as he took in their environment. Everything still seemed like they were inside this mansion like cave, however, stone columns lined this hallway and small flames floated in the air like torches without the torch. "You say we have to climb up but I don't see a way there."

"Hell's labyrinth is in depth—if it wasn't it'd be no fun for him." Koe replied.

"What's all this stuff about games?" Chopper asked with little judgment towards the raven in his eyes. Koe was about to answer when the walls began to shake and the sound of destruction came their way. Before anyone of them could react Koe had surrounded them group once again in his unkindness and they vanished before whatever it was arrived.

~*0-0*~

Zoro and Akio were pushed back even further into Hell's home. Now away from the ballroom, Luffy and Sanji were forced to fight Ha by themselves. Though she was not what worried them—it was more so the fact that they were being chased by Hell who was growing ravenous with frustration and temper had already snapped beyond repair. With a form that resembled a Minotaur Hell accelerated after his two Hounds; arms swinging violently, smashing and breaking the walls of the hallway. His head and horns thrashed back and forth like waves and his speed only increased as he diminished ever obstacle in his way.

"I don't think entering this hallway was the best idea" Akio hollered to Zoro who was right next to him.

"Okay it was a stupid idea I get it but we just need to distract him so he won't notice everyone else leaving!" Zoro snapped back as he cut and pushed another pillar down into Hell's way. Like all the others it proved feeble in the attempt to slow the beast.

"What about Luffy and Sanji…They didn't leave with Koe how'll they get to the peak?"

"I'm thinking." Zoro's tone suggested he shut up and Akio did.

"Those who defy me become my prey!" Hell was suddenly upon them and he was about to strike when Akio's reflexes brought his gun and shoot a bullet towards Hell's eyes, though it only grazed it did cause the enemy to finally halt. As Hell balled over in a shivering pain he held his left eye with his clawed hands. "You two were once my loyal subjects…No you still are. Those collars are still on your neck; my name is still inscribed there so why do you defy me?" Hell growled and his good eye glowed menacingly. His confusion only added to his rage.

"Who knows," Zoro began.

"Maybe it's because we found a world without you and have hope of—" Hell cut Akio off before he could even finish.

"Hope?" He spat out the word with corrosive acid. "…hope…" In a scream of agony his body grew and morphed. "How dare you have hope under my rule" From the shadowy fog that now surrounded him flames of crimson shot out and singed the Hounds before they could escape.

~*0-0*~

"Well, your Hound friends are now gone. Hell will destroy just as I will do with you." Ha smirked and crouched low to the ground. Blood light entered through the window up near the top of the dome roof and it elongated both Luffy and Sanji's shadows.

"We'll all be fine." Luffy assured. "How come you have no shadow?" Ha's ears perked at this question. _Been awhile since I've told anyone…_ She thought briefly.

"I have no shadow for I am my shadow…" She leapt towards the two while speaking her story. Landing between them both scattered in opposite directions like roaches. She grinned insidiously as she watched they stare back warily. "After having my first liter of pups, three boys to be exact…I apparently committed a sin." She licked her fangs. "Killing a human to protect them, Hell came to me and told me that the only way to save them from suffering my retribution was to give up my soul." She snapped her head towards Sanji and then pounced again. "I had them ripped away from me!" She swiped the arm of his shadow and caused damage on the real thing. The cook stumbled back in bewilderment as he held his bleeding shoulder close to his body. "I became nothing but a shadow under him. I became Hell's shadow—his fangs which now execute his acts of punishment on others." She ducked under Sanji's kick with great agility. "Now I can only interact through shadows, for that's all I am; an empty shell full of revolting emotions of hate and disgust." Her eyes flashed as Luffy stretched out and grabbed her back leg, quickly before she could spin around and clamp her fangs into flesh he flung her into the wall. It took a moment but Ha recovered and regained her balance. "I've learned from this experience that by protecting others all you receive is their pain. My children were everything to me. I tried to save them and all I got was THIS!" She was now no longer acting sarcastic or nonchalant but her fur stood on end and she bellowed with such bared fangs that she almost looked at terrifying as Hell himself. Her eyes grew wide and filled with bloodlust. "YOU PROTECT YOURSELF AND NOTHING CAN HURT YOU!" With such aguish she swiftly moved towards Straw Hat and became the black wolf she was. She now moved so subtly that she was a shadow. She slashed her fangs across Luffy's shoulder and started acting out Hell's punishment upon them.

~*0-0*~

Gasping for air as the black vortex disappeared around them once again, Robin spoke to Koe "So it seems your knack for teleporting is no lie. The book I read mentioned a 'voice that traveled great distances' thought I never expected it to be so literal." She smiled at the raven as everyone once again recollected themselves from the travel.

"Thank you, but do not admire this gift for it has been cursed upon me with great acts of sin and sorrow weighing it down. I am actually from your world and was living with my family—an unkindness of ravens living and thriving together." Everyone listened intently the Koe's story as he spoke with a voice like a child's. He had perched himself on Rose's shoulder; they all began walking down another hallway which he instructed was the way to the top. "Hell came to us and told us of a sin we committed. Though none could truly recollect what sin he was speaking of we still became worried of our afterlife. Then when we made a decision as a whole to not give him our souls for rebirth he killed us all off—everyone excluding myself of course." Everyone's hearts became crestfallen at such a sorrow-filled story. "Hell fused my family's soul into my body and though I kept control my mind can still hear their cries and pain of their death. What you see when I teleport like that is the breath moment of life I give to them at the extent of my own energy. When we fly together we cover much greater distances in much less time…" Koe trailed off and everything grew quiet except for footsteps against the marble.

After some time Koe spoke again, softly. "At the top of this mountain you will find freedom. Hell cannot keep those who haven't made a deal with him."

"What about Rose?" Nami asked hastily.

"I made a deal with him. Odds are he won't let me through…"

"But we're going through why can't you! You've gotten back to our world before!" Percy insisted.

"Because I'm bound to Hell," Rose clutched her collar. "He can sense me easier than all of you. If I were to travel through I'd just be upping the risk of him noticed the entire escape. Zoro and Akio are trying to distract him now but—"

"This is all just stupid. We could never leave you behind!" Chopper burst out, surprising everyone.

"I know it seems unfair but it's my own fault for getting into this deal with him…"

"If we give up on you than that means we have to give up on Akio—and Zoro too! That can't happen!" Chopper wiped away tears hoping no one would notice.

"Tears will do you no good my little deer…Hell's deals are impossible to break." Koe stated sympathetically. Chopper sniffed and mumbled "I'm a reindeer."

"Chopper…" Usopp looked down at his friend unknowing of what to do. "Let's worry about that after we get there." He took his hoof and led him down the hallway with the others. The farther they went the darker it became.

~*0-0*~

Gaping up at the new form of Hell, the two Hounds thought only one thing… _HOLY SHIT!_ Of course Hell was always dangerous with his unlimited ability to change shapes whenever he pleased, however, whenever he became this you knew it was time to run—and they did just that. The only up side to this was that he couldn't change again for quite some time, though having him stay in this form was never an upside.

Running full speed, once again, through the hallway the two Hounds were now chased with raging, crimson flames that nicked their clothes and limps; swirling malignly around the corners and turns like snakes; the blood chilling roar that seemed to rattle the corners of your vision. That was what they were running for.

"We're almost outside." Akio announced. "I see a window coming up we can fight on the mountain."

"Is that any better than here? Won't he have the freakn advantage with the air?" Zoro questioned. Akio thought about it for a second but then as the heat of flames started to reach his back he no longer cared about 'advantage' and he and Zoro dove through the stain glass. Now in freefall, the two noticed blood raining coming down from the cloudless sky. Zoro, thinking quickly, took out a katana and stabbed it into the side of the lonesome mountain and he jerked to a stop; Akio was lucky enough to grab his foot at the last second.

It suddenly became very quiet for the two, only the sound of the blood hitting their skin and the side of the rocks was heard. They hung there in silence waiting to see if Hell would come. Then without warning he came. In a wave of black against the red sky he burst through the already broken window, wings folded in against his slim, scaly body. His snake-like neck slithered out first and then once he was free of the restriction found within the mountain his leather wings flared out and caught the updraft. Hell's black talons curled over themselves in the air and he eyed up the two who hung vulnerably on the side of the cliff.

"Remember when I said those who defy me will regret it?" The dragon-Hell sneered and blinked his red eyes. The blood rain dripped smoothly over his skin like silk. Zoro and Akio looked at the dragon and for the first time in awhile felt utter fear towards him. They were the bull's eye and he was the arrow. The two were panting to keep up with their fluttering hearts. Soon, from the blood raining, Zoro's hands started to slip, he looked up at his katana and saw his grip loosening—Akio noticed this too and took out his guns, prepared to fire at Hell if they fell into freefall once again.

"Akio…I'm going to throw you up higher with my legs. Just hold on." Zoro whispered, inaudible to Hell through the rain.

"What about you" Akio snapped harshly back.

"I have a plan…" Zoro then, without much warning, swung his legs up and along so tossed Akio up higher above his head. Hell aimed and fired a spitball of flames at them. As Akio clumsily grabbed hold of a jutting out stone he looked down to see that Zoro was still stuck in the flames' way. However, before he could curse the swordsman for his idiocy something jumped up and whisked his friend away just in time and the flames crashed into the mountain.

~*0-0*~

Luffy ducked just in time and Ha was in midair over his back. Then Sanji came out of nowhere and kicked her into one of the enormous columns of the ballroom. She yelped and dropped to the ground, knees weak and about to buckle beneath her. Luffy then wound up his arm and fired a punched at her; he hit her in the chest but her claws also slit his arm and it came back to his gashed and bleeding.

"You two…" She grumbled and picked herself up with much pain. "You fight for each other, you get hurt for one another yet you aren't bothered by it….I see no logic in this…" She stared at the ground with confused eyes.

"It's easy. It's because we're nakama." Luffy said.

"Who's worth risking your life for? No one that's the answer…" Ha said huffing for air.

"Would you kill someone to protect your children again?" Sanji asked calmly; despite the few wounds he had here and there he was growing confident about this fight.

"My children…" The roof above all of them suddenly started to shake violently and rocks and boulders began to fall. A blast then completely collapsed half of the dome upon them and smoke filled the air. Soon, so much dust clouded everything and there was no room to breathe through the depths of the damage and there was no room to live under the weight of the debris.


	12. The Hounds Fleeing

Ch 12: The Hounds—Fleeing

"Sanji, watch out!" Luffy screamed and stretched out his arms to grab hold of his friend's waist. Jerking the cook off his feet, his life was saved as a large boulder fell right where he once stood.

"What the hell's going on," Sanji gasped as the dome-roof started collapsing overtop of them. Flames had suddenly burst into the ballroom and they still clung to the edges of the gaping hole their entrance left. As more debris fell, dust clouded everyone's vision and the two humans were left to try and dodge on coming rocks from sound alone. Ha's senses gave her the upper hand and she made it seem like a game of hopscotch as she jumped out of the way of another pile of debris. However, out of the corner of her eye she saw the two pirates, desperately looking for an exit in the smoke—vulnerable. A sly grin crept across her face and she glanced at the small hallway to her right. Sure, she could leave now but where's the satisfaction in having your opponents crushed? Ha wanted to feel their fleeting heartbeats with her fangs.

Poising for an attack, she saw the perfect opportunity, but the thought of killing kept her distracted from the danger falling overhead. Right when her muscles sprung into action all went black and she could no longer hear her own heartbeat? 'Did she every have one?' was the last thought that passed through her mind.

"Sanji, I think I see a hallway!" Luffy called, grabbing Sanji's arm even when he left out a yelp of pain from the claw marks inflicted. The two made one final lunge for the safe haven and happened just dodge one of the largest pieces of the roof that just fell. Both didn't move, their faces plastered to the cool stone of the marble hallway. Each gasped for air and couched up the dust into the crocks of their arms. Eventually, when all seemed to grow silent they sat up and looked over their shoulders at the ballroom. Once elegant it was nothing more than a bowl filled with rubble; there was not a square inch of the floor still visible, nor any life present.

"She's…dead…" Sanji mumbled, somewhat melancholy-like. Luffy took off his hat and mourned for a brief second before standing up. The blonde followed and they both took a quick glance at their wounds—none too serious, they all just stung like a bitch.

"We have to continue; find where everyone else is." Luffy said, placing his hat back on.

"How are we supposed to navigate through this place…? It's literally a _maze_!" Sanji moaned while brushing some strands of hair back into place. Luffy thought long and hard, placing his finger on his chin. He strained his poor brain and cocked his head to the side, and right when he was about to admit defeat an unfamiliar voice spoke from behind them in the ballroom.

"Perhaps I could be of assistance," It said prestigiously. Both pirates spun around in surprise and looked out into the center of the room; there standing on top of the rubble was a strange deer-like creature. Its fur was the color of snow with black, zebra-like strips coating it. Brawny muscles were seen through the skin as it stood with pride, the red light filtering through the large hole in the nonexistent roof. The creature blinked it's lifeless, alien eyes and started walking towards the two. "I am Me," it said, adroitly moving across the unstable debris. Me had antlers that stretched high into the air, each fastened to a point.

"What the hell do you want?" Sanji eyed him up warily.

"No need for hostility. You will trust me for I just saved your friend." Me said.

"What're you talking about?" Luffy questioned.

"That blast up there," He motioned to the destroyed roof above him with a small jerk of his head. "It was caused by the fight currently going on outside of this mountain."

"How could anyone possibly fight out there," Sanji asked.

"Seems like those two Hounds are; I saved the swordsman from the fire and am now here to help you two get to the peak." When neither of them spoke Me moved even closer and continued to talk. "I'm sure you have no idea what's happening but I shall explain on the way if you do so choose to follow." It glanced at them from the corner of its eyes. The two nakama looked at one another then silently followed the deer down the hallway, moving at a considerably slow pace.

"You should rejoice with your friends when you meet back up with them, freedom is near—as long as Koe brought them to peak like we planned and of course you're Hounds manage to blind Hell."

"Don't call them that." Luffy said menacingly. Me didn't answer him but took a note of it.

"What's this plan; I certainly don't remember hearing anything about it." Sanji grumbled, hands stuffed into his pockets.

"A plan between Koe and I; it seemed practically impossible until the Hou—" He stopped himself. "It seemed impossible until your collar-friends joined in."

"That's not much better." Luffy grumbled, he was ignored.

"With them on our sides things started to look up. Our plan is to help you escape. Hell took you and your crew here even when you made no deal with him whatsoever. If you made no deal then he can't keep you. After so long of being his slaves—his voice and eyes—Koe and I decided to make a stand. We tried to get Ha to join in, but for some reason she was afraid to align with us…." He grew quite thinking about his old 'partner'. "We know the way to get out of Hell and it involves the peak of this mountain, there under the right circumstances a portal shall open to your world." Sanji looked over a Luffy who had fallen asleep, though was still managing to walk.

"I'm good, but I think you've lost my captain…"

"It's fine if he doesn't know. Right now—we're almost there—all we need to wait for are your friends fighting Hell."

"How are we almost at the peak, we haven't gone up any stairs or anything like that."

"That's part of the trick with this labyrinth; it doesn't follow the normal laws of your world. 'Up' will not take you up, and on the other end 'down' will not take you down. The only way to navigate this place is to really _know_ where you're going." Me explained. Sanji nudged Luffy who startled awake. "We're here."

~*0-0*~

"Jump, Zoro!" Hardly able to think, the swordsman's instincts kicked in and he jumped as told to by Akio. However, his entire body was burning with exhaustion; every muscle screamed and because of that he didn't make it as far as he had hoped. The two Hounds were starting to scale the side of the mountain after Zoro had been saved by Me who had then disappeared into the wreckage. Fear welled in his throat as he realized he wouldn't make the gap between his small cliff and the one he was jumping to. _Shit-! _

Akio grabbed hold of his arm at the last second. Zoro swung underneath the cliff due to momentum then went back and forth like a pendulum till he came to a stop. Both of the men stared at each other in silence; their gasping breaths muffled out by the pattering of blood rain. Akio tightened his grip on Zoro's arm and then got into a position where he would be able to pull him up. He grunted and hefted the other up onto the cliff. They fell back and gasped for air. Zoro pushed himself up from his knees; his three, sheathed katana all banging against his legs.

"We're almost there." He said, looking up at the top, squinting through the rain.

"But—we still—have to blind Hell…." Akio said, having difficulty regaining that breath. Zoro pulled him up by the forearm and said bluntly.

"We need to keep moving," But as soon as that was said Hell appeared in a wave of black. He clung to the side of the jagged mountain and snapped his jaws at the two who stumbled away. "Go, go!" Zoro screamed as they leapt from one cliff, down to another, up to the next—and so on. Hell moved warily, rocks slipping from under his claws. He growled and spit fire at the fleeing Hounds; leather wings would whip out for balance. He went to take another step and lost his footing, Zoro noticed this from the corner of his eyes and spun around in midair; adroitly he slipped out Shuusui and sent a slash at the dragon. As a desperate attempt for protection, Hell shielded his face with a wing; however, the attack was strong enough to penetrate the leathery skin and it went to slice open his right eye.

Hell bellowed in pain and brought his head close into his body. The two Hounds took the opportunity to run. Blood gushed from the crimson bead that was his eye, the blood rain mixed with the actual liquid and became indistinguishable. Growling, as anger surmounted the pain, Hell kept his blind eye shut and looked up in search for his prey. Silver fangs shown themselves from behind his snarling lips and he pushed himself off the wall of the mountain; his wings stretched to their full potential, both large enough to cast a shadow on a house. Favoring his not damaged wing Hell made his way around the mountain which grew smaller in circumference as it went higher up. Soon he saw the two Hounds climbing up—they were close to the top and he knew he must do anything to prevent them from reaching it.

Sticking out like sore thumbs, Zoro and Akio noticed Hell by the sound of his beating wings which were like war drums. Knowing not to look back they continued onwards as fast as their bodies would let them. The side of the mountain was abrasive like shards of glass and both of their hands, palms, feet—anything that happened to touch the stones was grated. Akio, who was climbing above Zoro, misplaced a stone that dislodged and hit the pirate on the head.

"Oi, watch it!" He mumbled, looking up only to see Akio starting to fall. He did a little leap up next to the man and helped to steady him. "_Okay now_?"

"Yeah…thanks…" Akio looked at him, his black hair matted to his face; blood running down like tears. Zoro got lost in the innocence of his eyes for a moment, but the sound of Hell rushing from behind snapped him out of the daze. Right as his brought his fangs down to bite one of their heads off, Akio whipped out his silver pistol and took a shot. Hell's head flinched away as a bullet grazed the side of it, but then he lashed out in rage and his sickle talons ripped out Akio's left forearm, the gun flew out of his hand and clattered down the side of the mountain.

Drawing his hurt arm in close to his chest, Akio frantically climbed higher when Hell grabbed his leg and dragged him back down. Zoro took out a sword and without a moment's hesitation cleaved off Hell's hand. It fell just like the gun.

"Go; we can see the top!" He screamed, the beast distracted by the agony.

~*0-0*~

"I thought you said you were taking us to the peak?" Nami asked in wonder as her eyes wandered around the cavern which they just entered. Their small party of six including Koe walked out from the flame light hallway into a commodious cavern with a placid lake in the center. The place was so dark it was hard to see the ceiling or other end, but, despite that, the lake still radiated this blue glow. Above the lake were stalactites; directly above the lake was a round opening, revealing the Lost Children which reflected in the pool below.

"I-Is that blood?" Usopp asked with a wavering voice as he gazed over blood rain coming in through the opening, though, when it reached the water's surface it seemed to vanish; never making contact or any ripples.

"Yeah, remember that blood rain we encountered in the desert?" Rose reminded. Koe flew off her shoulder and glided around the spacious cavern as if for fun.

"The kind that 'stain's your soul'" Robin specified. The Hound nodded her long hair bobbing.

"What now, Koe?" She called out to the raven, her voice was expected to echo but it did not.

"We're here," Koe replied. "We're here,"

"Yeah, we got that—now what?" Percy asked, his patience growing thin with the child-like animal. However, when he said that voices were heard from the hallway they just came from. Everyone turned; Usopp and Chopper huddled together in fear of some other monster. However, it was only Luffy, Sanji, and Me that appeared.

"Guys?" Nami exclaimed.

"Nami-swan, Robin-chan—you two are alright!" Sanji twirled with joy over to the two ladies. Meanwhile, Luffy gazed around the cavern, much more serious than normal.

"Your two friends should be here soon," Koe said, perching himself on Me's antlers.

"Then we'll be able to begin." Me finished.

"Will we all be able to leave?" Luffy asked.

"That…depends." Me returned. Then, when all seemed quiet; the tranquil lake radiating an air of peace, guns shots and shouts were heard from just outside the crevice in the roof.

~*0-0*~

Akio was about five steps away from the ridge of the mountain when he decided to turn around and saw Zoro coming up after him; although, Hell was close on his tail, but he was having difficulty with one hand missing and a damaged wing. Akio took out the black pistol and fired out round after round. Zoro crept close to the surface of the mountain, ignoring the protest his body put up concerning the man cuts he was receiving from the rocks; Akio's bullets whizzed over his back and hit Hell in multiple targets. The dragon hissed and trashed its tail. When close enough Zoro reached out and took Akio's outstretched hand. He got pulled up and now they were both on the brink of the mountain, below them the blue lake.

They both turned to meet Hell face to face, but he once again taken to the air and was up there quicker than they thought possible. He swiped at their heads with his still intact hand, yet they ducked so he whipped around his tail instead. He hit them both in the guts and sent them flying across the small opening; they slammed into the other end of the circle and plummeted to the water after failing to get a grip on the other side.

With wind whipping by their ears, everything seemed silent. The water came up quickly and their brains had trouble comprehending all that had just happened. They broke through the glass surface and slowed dramatically. Bubbles curved around them as they drifted farther down into the water, both enjoying the requiescence it brought; neither wanted to move, each wanting to stay in the cool waters until everything above was over and done with. However, that all ended when two figures were seen swimming towards them. It all went in slow motion as things tend to do underwater; Sanji and Percy dove down for their friends and surfaced with them as the Hounds barely held onto consciousness.

"God you're so freakn annoying, you know that?" Sanji mumbled into Zoro's ear as the Marimo's head slumped into his shoulder. Percy took Akio into his arms and was grateful to see the young man was alive. He started paddling back to shore, reassuring Akio the whole way who submitted to Percy's words as much as he did to the man's help. "Oi, Chopper," Sanji called out nonchalantly as he was soon able to walk, still having to drag Zoro who refused to put in any effort at all. "Come look at these two idiots." Reaching the stone shore he placed Zoro down; Percy did the same. The swordsman coughed up water and pushed himself up as much as his shaking arms would allow. He felt the reindeer's gentle touch on his shoulder and tried to sit up even more, just to assure everyone that he was perfectly fine.

"Don't do that; just stay still." Chopper protested. Rose came and sat down next to Akio cross-legged, his face beamed with happiness just at the sight of her, though all the worry she felt moments ago kept her from showing relief.

"Where's Hell?" Me asked, walking up and staring down at Akio who was still lying on his back.

"Uh," The young man blinked up at him bewildered.

"He was still up there when we fell," Zoro said, heaving in a deep, caustic breath. Me nodded and looked up at the opening when they saw the black outline against the sky.

"So, this is where you all are…" Hell said menacingly. He dropped his snake-like neck down and grinned, however, both his eyes were shut closed with blood trickling out of them.

"You did manage to blind him," Me stated, somewhat surprised. Zoro and Akio sent each other a grin, but it left when they heard his voice again.

"Fine, make me come after you I see…" Hell said, carefully crawling in through the hole, but with his absent sight he missed the actual mountain and fell through the air; flipping through the air he tripped to slow his fall with outspread wings but when he opened them they appeared to have numerous bullet holes in them and they did little for flight. He crashed into the water, all his limbs knotted up with the other.

"That's what we need!" Koe shouted. "Blood from Hell!"

"Everyone, gather together," Me ordered, "Koe, you'll be able to bring everyone to the center of the lake, right? That's where the portal should appear." Koe nodded and flew into the air, growing in number the more he went around; soon a twister of his unkindness formed around the group—the squawking of all the ravens was ear shattering. Right before they vanished, there was a bright flash of blinding light and a vortex appeared in the opening in the ceiling. Water and loose stones were beginning to get sucked up through the air into the white beacon, spiraling around themselves as they traveled, eventually vanishing when they hit the center.

The group, teleported courtesy of Koe, and appeared in midair above the center of the lake; everyone soon began to get lifted due to the pull of the portal above. Then, just when freedom seemed reachable, Hell burst out of the water his cut eyes wide open and bleeding tears. He snagged Me with his claw; Hell used his talons and ripped open the deer's whole side—flesh falling in tatters. Me closed his eyes for the first time since coming under Hell's service and his lifeless body was thrown aside into the lake's waters. Then, in even more rage, Hell leapt up even further and ended up catching all three chains of the Hounds' collars. Rose, Akio, and Zoro were jerked backwards; it became a tug-of-war between the grip and strength of Hell and the pull of the luminescent vortex. Luffy reached down in desperation towards Zoro who did the same to him. They brushed fingertips and there was another flash of blinding light that consumed the whole cavern.

**Should I even **_**try**_** and apologize for the lateness of this chapter… Who knows, I guess I should at least thank those who are still reading this. Hope you liked this chapter. ONE MORE LEFT AFTER THIS! Never thought this story would be over… Please review, comments, questions, helpful hints? Anything would be great. Again, I can't thank those enough who are still willing to read this after so long! :D**


	13. The Hounds' Final Moments

Ch 13: The Hounds' Final Moments

The sun shone brightly; almost too bright as the Straw Hat pirates just started to come around. Many moaned as they attempted to move and found that most of their bodies were frozen with stiffness. Luffy peeked open one eye only to see his hat being blown off by a strict breeze; grunting, he quickly reached out and snatched it up.

"What the hell happened...?" He mumbled with a squeaky voice, sitting up straight. He crossed his legs and cocked his head to the side, trying to comprehend the scene. He saw everyone lying before; everyone beginning to stir. They were all in a small clearing in the woods, sunlight breaking through the thin canopy of leaves above. The grass was thin and dirt was seeable through the green. However, then he noticed—his heart coming to a stop. Three of them were missing. In their places were three graves, all with a decrepit, wooden cross.

~*0-0*~

It was dark when he opened his eyes; almost too dark for his liking. He tried to stretch out but found that some hard was restricting him. Fear started to well when he pushed in front of him and felt wood. Zoro looked around and saw nothing but blackness, however, there was wood surrounding him—it was a damn fucking coffin. Trying to be rational and not freak-the-hell out he felt around for his swords. _Oh thank God…. _He sighed with relief when he felt the three sheaths clank next to his hands. _Now if I can just get one out…. _He paused when the memories of what just happened—that entire adventure in hell—did he ever really escape? He didn't remember really going through the portal; does that mean he was still there?

"Oi….Luffy…" Zoro screamed at the top of his lungs; his voice wavered with dread and panic. He wanted to try and punch his way through but there wasn't even room for him to move his arms around. "Luffy! Oi, somebody…" Were those tears he felt on his cheeks? Zoro doesn't cry. "Please…" He was so close, so close to escaping Hell; to saving his friends and they could all be dead—Hell bested them in the end. _…no…_ He wasn't going to give in. Zoro clenched his teeth and blinked away the remaining tears. He glared at the darkness and grasped what he was sure was Wado Ichimonji. _Fuck this box; I'm getting out!_

~*0-0*~ 

They had climbed out of the ground, now it was his turn. It was an exhausting task, digging yourself out of your own grave, but once their hand broke through the surface their friends had been there to pull them the rest of the way. Why they had been buried and not the others were unknown, but what they did know was that they should relish the sun while he last—who knows when they'll actually be dead for good. Akio and Rose felt free for the first time in years.

Soon Zoro's suddenly came through the dirt, but before anyone could give him assistance he pushed his torso out the rest of the way. Gasping and collapsing onto the grass he sighed with relief, wanting to kiss the ground—he would've had his nakama not been there.

"Zoro….we were so worried!" Chopper landed on top of the swordsman's back and cried into his stained shirt. He didn't mind it though; hell, everyone could've dog piled on him and he wouldn't care one bit.

"What the hell's up with that?" He grumbled, using what little strength he had left to pull his legs out of the ground.

"No idea," Rose answered nonchalantly. "Though how many people can say they've dug themselves out of their own graves?" She shrugged. Zoro groaned and rolled onto his back, Chopper fell off and sat next to him. The swordsman was staring blankly at the clouds in the sky when he happened to glance over at his captain.

"Are—Are you _crying_, Luffy?" He couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at the very thought.

"N-No of course not," He whined, hiding any expression with the rim of his hat. Zoro laughed even harder.

"I bet all of you were worried sick about me… Even you Curly Brow," Zoro grinned and looked back at Sanji who was happily smoking a cigarette; his back to the swordsman.

"Shut your ugly mug, Marimo…" He growled.

"You're pretty slow aren't you," Percy mumbled.

"What was that?" Zoro glared at him, but then saw Nami and Robin looking at him with a similar expression. "What are all of you talking about…" Involuntarily he touched his neck, but froze. Was this for real?

"How do you suppose it happened?" Usopp asked calmly, looking over at Sanji. Zoro was too appalled to reply. His collar—was gone. He saw that Akio and Rose's collars were gone as well. _This must be a dream… We really made it through, but what happened to the collars? _

"I wonder," Akio spoke up. "When Hell grabbed onto the chains at the last second, what if he broke them trying to pull us back?"

"His strength broke the chains thus freeing you guys—all by accident of course." Nami summarized to herself.

"Makes sense," Robin said. As silence set in the air, the sound of an unkindness was heard not too far away. Everyone turned to the sky and saw the brief glance of the ravens flying by the opening, all of them moving as one—the cries were piercing and the winds flapping sounded like propellers. Chopper smiled at the sight, thanking Koe for his help within his mind.

"Oi, guys look." Sanji whispered solemnly. Now they all looked at the edge of the forest where three pairs of red eyes stared intently back at them. Everyone became nervous for a moment, but snapped out of it when Sanji spoke up to the animals in the forest. "You three," He said, pointing the flaring end of the cigarette at them. The three black wolves perked their ears up and gazed at the group—searching for something. "There's nothing here for you; go away." Sanji said emotionlessly, though inside his heart felt otherwise. The three wolves waited before eventually disappearing back into the woods just as silently as they had come.

"W-What now," Chopper peeped. Luffy's stomach growling was enough of an answer. The captain collapsed to the ground, clutching his stomach tightly.

"Ugh, I think I'm gonna starve to death…." He croaked.

"Don't even joke about something like that." Zoro said, kicking him in the head.

"If we're even still on the same island, we can go back to my place and I'll make us something to eat." Percy suggested.

"I wouldn't do that unless you want your entire food supply diminished." Nami said wisely.

"Yeah, we could probably just leave him here." Sanji said with some thought.

"Ahhh—you're captain's dying over here and you're thinking of mutiny? Zoro…do something…" Luffy sobbed.

~*0-0*~

End __

**Thank you all so much for reading this story! Please review and let me know what you thought of it. I'm thinking about putting a small epilogue in, let me know if you think that's a good idea. I'm sorry this story was stretched out over such a long period of time, I need to work on my uploading speed—along with grammar…story plot…climax building…and possibly everything else that involves writing 0.0 HOPE TO SEE YOU READING AND ENJOYING MY OTHER STORIES! **


	14. Epilogue

Epilogue __

Freedom like this wasn't supposed to feel so foreign—he knew that much. Still, he couldn't shake this feeling that it was all just a dream; something he'd wake up from if he kept his eyes closed long enough. Sitting up in the crow's nest of the Going Merry, Zoro stared up into the endless, royal blue sky. Clouds rolled by as the breeze carried them out into the horizon. Birds made their way in flocks around the coast of the island. They never saw Koe's unkindness again once they all left the forest.

Zoro sighed and leaned back against the wooden side of the nest. Up this high in the wind, he would've normally expected to hear the jingle of his chain and collar; although its absence was an unworldly relief it did leave a small hole inside of him. It was as if the newfound freedom to spend his life with his nakama was just a little bit overwhelming to the swordsman. _Can't we just leave yet? _He wanted to badly to be in the middle of the ocean by now; however, the rest of the crew was taking their sweet time preparing the sails and what not.

Zoro reached out and traced his finger down the side of Kuina's katana. _At least it's something that hasn't changed… You've been with me the entire time, haven't you—to hell and back… _He thought with a subtly smile.

"Let's go guys; the winds as good as it'll ever be!" Nami called from the deck. Suddenly, the sails snapped with the tension of the wind and the ship was beginning to make its way towards the open blue. The swordsman was ready to take a nice long nap up in the crow's nest when a raven squawked overhead and dropped something into his lap. Zoro cursed at the thing as it flew back to the island, but went silent when he saw what it was. Turning Akio's black pistol around in his hands, he read the attacked note. _I won't be in need of this anymore._ It said. Zoro twisted around and looked around the island's coast for something resembling his friend.

Then he saw them. The three: Akio, Rose, and Percy, were all standing in the shade of an old oak up on a cliff to the south. He thought they had all said their goodbyes at Percy's bar but I guess they still came to see them off. Zoro grinned to himself and cocked back the hammer of the gun. He pointed it up to the sky and fired all of the bullets into the clouds. Everyone on board scrambled for protection and screamed at Zoro for scaring them to death. The swordsman just smirked and got comfortable before tossing the empty weapon into the ocean. _I have no need for guns either—idiot…_ He was only satisfied when he heard the 'plunk' of the metal sinking into the sea.

"You're gonna regret just escaping hell, Marimo! Cause I'm gonna send you right back there!" Sanji threatened, trying to calm his racing heart. Zoro ignored him and closed his eyes. As sleep came on he wasn't sure if this dream would be gone when he woke up, but he decided to take his chances. 

**I'm not sure if this epilogue helps tie anything up, but I hope you enjoyed this story and I will be picking up one of my other ones that I discarded, so if you have any preferences about which one I should do please let me know **


End file.
